Pitt ranks No. 3 in NIH funding for fiscal year 2022

The National Institutes of Health is backing University of Pittsburgh researchers in a big way.

NIH grants to the medical school in fiscal year 2022 surged from an already enviable $475 million to $550 million. The increase in 2022 follows a $33 million jump in NIH funding in fiscal year 2021.

“The last two years’ major increases are thanks to the innovation and dedication of our Pitt Med faculty and staff,” said Anantha Shekhar, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine. “We’re further cementing our place among the top academic medical institutions in the country.”

The numbers place the University of Pittsburgh as the No. 3 ranked recipient of NIH funding for 2022, up from No. 11 in 2021, and only behind Johns Hopkins University and the University of California–San Francisco. The University as a whole landed $675 million in NIH awards, a 13% increase from the previous year. The School of Medicine, whose NIH grants make up 81% of the University’s total, moved from No. 11 to No. 6.

Pitt Med researchers also excelled in receiving especially large awards: Grants of $10 million or more increased from 6 in 2021 to 11 in 2022, while grants from $5 million to $10 million grew from 13 to 20. All of Pitt’s awards in these high-dollar ranges went to the School of Medicine.  

— Pitt Med magazine staff report