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Posted 3/6/98

CWRU School of Medicine in NIH top 10 for second year in a row

For the second year in a row, Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine ranked among the nation's top 10 medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. (View the list of the top 20 NIH-funded schools.)

The school received 413 NIH grants during the 1997 federal fiscal year, for a total of $122.2 million, according to an NIH report. This represents a 7.5 percent rate of growth from the previous year, when the school received $113.6 million.

With its annual growth rate, School of Medicine officials predict they will hit the $200 million mark for NIH funding within the next decade.

"The NIH is the world's largest source of funding for biomedical research," said Nathan A. Berger, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs.

"Being in this top tier of medical schools is important for Cleveland," he added. "It means that CWRU and its affiliated hospitals are a world powerhouse for biomedical research. It means that patients in Cleveland have immediate access to the latest breakthroughs in biomedical research. It means that the academic medical center is an important economic engine, bringing into the region more than $120 million federal dollars per year."

Two CWRU departments placed first for funding in their fields -- dermatology, which is based at University Hospitals of Cleveland, the medical school's primary affiliate; and nutrition, which is based at another of its affiliated hospitals, Mt. Sinai Medical Center.

Twelve of the medical school's departments were in the top 10, and eight of them in the top five:

In some cases, the NIH-defined departments cross over lines of CWRU's academic departments.

Research conducted under the auspices of the CWRU School of Medicine occurs at the school and at its affiliated hospitals.

Of the medical school's 1997 funding, $58.9 million went to physicians and researchers at UHC, an increase of 6.3 percent over 1996. This continues UHC's ranking as Ohio's leading hospital for medical research.

Approximately $36 million of CWRU's funding went to faculty based at the medical school, $16 million to faculty at Henry Ford Health System (in Detroit), $8 million to faculty at MetroHealth Medical Center, and $3 million to faculty at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The VA group received an additional $6 million in federal research funding through awards made directly by the Veterans Administration.

"The ability of talented individuals to come together across discipline and institutional lines makes it possible for us to develop the most highly competitive proposals," Berger said. "It should be noted that the funding to faculty at University Hospitals is higher than half of the research institutions in the nation and more than twice the amount granted to any other hospital in the state," Berger said. The Cleveland Clinic received $25.5 million in NIH funding for 1997.

CWRU received more NIH support last year than all other Ohio medical schools combined. The University of Cincinnati ranked 43rd nationally with $42.5 million in NIH funding, and the Ohio State University medical school ranked 50th with $35.6 million.

Thirty-nine medical school faculty received at least $1 million each in annual funding. Awards are for research in such areas as cancer, AIDS, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, hypertension, tuberculosis, skin diseases, Alzheimer's disease, cartilage degeneration, airway diseases, and various types of genetic defects.

"These 'million-dollar professors' and their teams are powerful pacesetters for our research efforts," Berger said. "Their total research funding alone last year was more than $60 million."

The dean lauded campus faculty and staff, as well as off-campus supporters, for their contributions to the school's rising NIH funding.

"Eleven years ago, we set out on a course to revitalize our science programs, first in the basic sciences, then in the clinical sciences," Berger said. "The plan has proven successful and has positioned us to benefit from the proposed future growth of NIH funding."

He added, "Spearheaded by the generous support and vision of the Cleveland Foundation, we were able to put Cleveland's only medical school among the very best in the nation."

CWRU's ranking in NIH support climbed from 26th in 1990 ($48.3 million) to 13th in 1995 ($104.4 million) before reaching 10th place in 1996.

"Congress and the president realize that the answers to complex diseases such as cancer and heart disease, which involve genetic and environmental factors, lie in biomedical research," Berger said. "I predict that within the next decade, the CWRU medical school will surpass the $200 million mark for NIH funding, which means that we will be able to expand our research efforts to more effectively tackle some of our most dreaded diseases."

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