UNC School of Medicine research funding increases nearly $50 million in FY21

Funding for UNC School of Medicine research reached an all-time high of $584 million during fiscal year 2021. Researchers were awarded $357 million from the National Institutes of Health.

The UNC School of Medicine's fiscal year 2021 total research funding reached $584 million this past fiscal year, a growth of nearly $50 million from fiscal year 2020. The UNC School of Medicine surpassed the $500 million milestone in fiscal year 2019.

"The past year was stressful and difficult for our researchers due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," said Blossom Damania, PhD, Vice Dean for Research at the UNC School of Medicine. "However, our determined faculty, staff, students, and postdocs continued their incredible efforts, including several key studies related to SARS-CoV-2. Over $30M of total funding this year was from additional funding for COVID-19 research, many of which were supplements for COVID-19-related research."

Research funding for the School of Medicine has grown steadily over the last several years, increasing by more than $135 million since fiscal year 2017. More than half of all research funding at UNC-Chapel Hill, which surpassed the billion-dollar milestone in 2020, was awarded to UNC School of Medicine researchers.

"Funding alone does not account for why the UNC School of Medicine is considered a global leader in basic and clinical research," Damania said. "It is, though, a sign of our commitment to incredible researchers dedicated to advancing biomedical science with the ultimate goal of solving health-related problems to help people across North Carolina and around the world."