Yale School of Medicine (YSM) now ranks third in the nation for total National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, according to the newest rankings released by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR).

“This reflects on our incredible team,” says Nancy J. Brown, MD, the Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of Yale School of Medicine and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine. “It is gratifying to see the return on the investments that YSM and the university have made. More importantly, our investigators are making discoveries and leading research that is changing the lives of many.”

In the federal fiscal year 2024, which ended Sept. 30, 2024, YSM researchers garnered a total of $598,157,843 in awards. This is an increase of nearly 5% from the prior year. In 2023, YSM ranked fourth in NIH funding. BRIMR is a non-profit organization based in North Carolina that compiles medical school rankings in NIH funding each year.

“That YSM’s ranking continues to rise and our researchers continue to attract increased NIH funding reflects our alignment with national priorities in biomedical research,” says Anthony Koleske, PhD, Ensign Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and deputy dean for research (basic science). “This achievement is made possible by the dedication of the many superb and hardworking faculty, staff, and students to our mission of discovery."

Several YSM departments ranked first in NIH funding compared to their peers across the country. These include the departments of emergency medicine and comparative medicine, as well as the Department of Psychiatry, which rose from ranking second in 2023.

This was the final year that Yale School of Public Health was included in YSM’s funding, as it is now an independent school. Its funding ranked third among public health departments in the country at $42,453,840.

YSM’s research priorities are closely aligned with those identified by Yale’s University Science Strategy Committee and include data science and artificial intelligence, neuroscience, inflammation and immunology, rare disorders and gene therapy, cancer, metabolism, imaging, personalized medicine, and bleeding edge science.

“Yale’s success is driven by its remarkably collaborative research climate, which brings together scientists and physician scientists from both basic and clinical departments in the School of Medicine, as well as encouraging transformative synergy across the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, and Engineering," says Brian Smith, MD, professor and chair of laboratory medicine and deputy dean for clinical and translational research. "All of these faculty and trainees working together enables team research that is far greater than the sum of its parts and accelerates new approaches to improving health for our patients and for the community as a whole.”