By SUSAN JONES
Despite the upheavals on the federal research funding landscape last year, Pitt was able to maintain its position in the top 10 institutions receiving money from the National Institutes of Health, according to the latest rankings released by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR).
Pitt ranked 7th overall, with $669.7 million from NIH during the federal fiscal year of Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025. The total was up slightly from the previous year, when Pitt received $661.2 million.
“NIH made a strategic shift toward the end of the federal fiscal year and accelerated their spending by issuing multi‑year awards instead of single-year awards,” said Tom Berkhoudt, associate vice chancellor for grants and awards, health sciences. “The result was a modest increase in total dollars awarded, even as the number of funded projects declined. While Pitt saw year‑over‑year growth in funding, the number of projects supported decreased, which also occurred in national trends across peer institutions.”
Of the funds received, 72.5% were for directs costs and 28.3% for indirects. The indirect costs, which fund infrastructure and other necessary items not directly related to research, have been a point of contention with the Trump administration, which early on wanted to cut the reimbursement rate to a flat 15% for several federal agencies. Those efforts have failed to date.
In addition, Pitt received $16.1 million in NIH-funded OB-GYN research, bringing the total to $685.8 million.
Overall, Johns Hopkins University led the list, receiving $866 million from NIH, followed by University of California–San Francisco, Washington University of St. Louis, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University.
NIH reported that its total dollar disbursements to U.S. medical schools increased by $104 million (0.5%) in fiscal 2025 as compared to the year before, including a 2.3% increase in indirect-cost support, according to BRIMR.
The number of awards to medical schools, however, fell by 7.5%, while the number of principal investigators (PIs) holding those awards declined 4.2%. Among medical schools nationally, there were 991 fewer NIH-funded PIs in 2025 compared to 2024.
In the list of schools of medicine, Pitt ranked 8th. The Pitt School of Medicine received $555.3 million from NIH. UCSF ranked first, with $724.1 million.
All six schools of the health sciences were in the top 20 for their fields. The School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences jumped to 6th from 13th, and Pitt Dental ($7.5 million) was up to 11th from 16th.
Public Health ranked 10th ($40 million); the School of Nursing was 16th ($5.3 million); and the School of Pharmacy was 19th ($8.75 million).
“In a year in which the landscape shifted dramatically for federal funding of scientific research, I am very proud that all six of our health sciences schools were among the top 20, which is a real testament to the excellence and productivity of our researchers,” said Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences.
Pitt departments ranked first in two categories: Physical medicine ($9.9 million) and psychiatry ($111.6 million)
Pitt also was in the top 10 in several other departments: anatomy/cell biology, 9th; microbiology, 2nd; neurosciences, 5th; pharmacology, 2nd; anesthesiology, 4th; dermatology, 7th; internal medicine, 6th; otolaryngology, 3rd; radiology, 10th; and surgery, 6th.
As for funding for fiscal year 2025-26, it’s too soon to tell how that will go.
“Historically, the NIH issues very few awards during the first quarter of the federal fiscal year,” Berkhoudt said. “While our current pace is slower than usual, it is still too early to draw conclusions about (federal) FY26 overall.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
Have a story idea or news to share? Share it with the University Times.
Follow the University Times on Facebook.