Emory Surgery Places in Top 10 for 2015 NIH Funding
MARCH 2016
According to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, which publishes ranking tables online of annual NIH funding, the Emory Department of Surgery ranked 9th in NIH awards for all departments of surgery nationwide in 2015, based on a total of $8,938,514 million in awards (direct plus indirect costs are included, R & D contracts are not). This was an uptick in funding compared to 2014, when the department placed in the 12th position.
Typically Blue Ridge posts its tallies earlier in the year, but the NIH found that its initial release of 2015 data contained errors needing correction. Blue Ridge announced that the NIH's revised data still contained errors and made its own additional corrections prior to posting the 2015 figures, acknowledging that the data represented a best estimate.
Emory Surgery faculty researchers Christian Larsen, Lily Yang, Rachel Patzer, Craig Coopersmith, and Mandy Ford all placed in the top 100 PIs. Luke Brewster and Michael Halkos were also highly ranked surgeon-scientists.
"We are incredibly proud to be in the top 10 for NIH funding for departments of surgery," says Dr. Coopersmith, the department's vice chair of research. "We have a wonderful breadth of research, ranging from transplant to oncology to critical care to vascular to cardiac surgery. In addition, our research runs the gamut from career development awards to merit awards for the most accomplished investigators. This diversity positions us to continue to make seminal research advances that will impact our patients' lives both now and in the future."
In addition to the NIH, the department's researchers received significant grants in 2015 from such organizations as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AVON Foundation, Carlos and Marguerite Mason Trust, Georgia Research Alliance, American Heart Association, CDC, FDA, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Department of Defense.