Every year, the University of North Carolina and its respective School of Medicine (SOM) disciplines consistently rank in the top tier of the “U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities” annual report. In the 2021 Best Global Universities report, UNC Department of Radiology ranked 32nd in Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging, among peer disciplines evaluated within ranked institutions. The Department’s 2021 highest-level marks in an acclaimed rankings report affirmed not only UNC Radiology’s established clinical excellence, but also its strength in investigative funding and disciplinary impact worldwide.
UNC and other large academic medical centers across the U.S. also pay attention to the annual institutional rankings of a small-scale medical research entity based in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Each year, the non-profit Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) ranks U.S. medical schools in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, both overall and categorically by specialty. BRIMR rankings are indicators of scholarly excellence at academic medical centers that advance patient care delivery via large-scale, federally funded investigative study.
In FY 2020, the UNC Department of Radiology came out strong among peers in BRIMR rankings of combined clinical science and basic science NIH funding. Over this 12-month period, the Department ranked 24th in NIH research funding amongst peer institutional specialties nationwide, and UNC School of Medicine ranked 10th among peer public institutions.
Amongst all medical schools nationwide in FY 2020, UNC SOM ranked 17th in total NIH funding, and 5th among peer public medical schools nationwide. Significantly, UNC SOM’s base of NIH-funded clinical and basic research jumped more than $29 million from FY 2019, to $345.7M+ in FY 2020. In overall clinical and basic research NIH funding, UNC SOM’s has increased each year since 2015.
Director of Clinical Research Ari Isaacson, MD, noted: “We are proud of the achievements of our clinical and basic science faculty in obtaining such an impressive level of funding for important research. We look forward to building on this success under the leadership of our new Chair, Dr. Maureen Kohi, who is an enthusiastic advocate for research.”