Pitt ranked No. 7 for NIH funding as Penn Nursing takes top nursing-school spot
Pitt received $669.7 million in NIH funding in 2025 to rank No. 7 nationally. Penn Nursing received $17.9 million, ranking first among U.S. nursing schools.
The University of Pittsburgh received $669.7 million in National Institutes of Health funding in 2025, making it the seventh highest recipient of NIH dollars, according to new rankings released by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing earned the highest amount of NIH funding among nursing schools nationwide this past fiscal year, receiving $17.9 million in NIH awards in 2025 and reclaiming the top spot for the first time since fiscal year 2019.
With an additional $16.1 million in NIH-funded research for OB-GYN, Pitt’s total stood at $685.8 million, per NIH year-end composite data for the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The six health sciences schools were all ranked in the top 20 for their categories. The School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences climbed seven spots to No. 6 with $9.8 million, a 96% jump in funding from last year. The School of Medicine ranked No. 8 nationally with $555.4 million. The School of Public Health was No. 10. The School of Dental Medicine ranked No. 11 with $7.5 million in awards, up 30% from last year. The School of Nursing ranked No. 16, and the School of Pharmacy, No. 19.
Pitt’s highlights included top 10 rankings in specific research categories:
- No. 1 in physical medicine and psychiatry
- No. 2 in microbiology and pharmacology
- No. 3 in otolaryngology
- No. 4 in anesthesiology
- No. 5 in neurosciences
- No. 6 in internal medicine and surgery
- No. 7 in dermatology
- No. 9 in anatomy/cell biology
- No. 10 in radiology
Penn Nursing said the funds supported research projects studying artificial intelligence based fall prevention interventions, digital HIV interventions for at-risk youth, and new telehealth tools. Annual NIH funding granted to the School of Nursing increased by over $6 million since fiscal year 2019. In February 2025, the NIH implemented a cap on indirect funds that would cost Penn $240 million and have widespread ramifications for research University-wide. That year, more than 2,400 grants were terminated or frozen, representing approximately $2.3 billion in unspent funds. A judge ordered the NIH to restore roughly 800 grants in June 2025, and a federal appeals court later ruled that the proposed funding cap unconstitutional.
The NIH’s total annual budget is approximately $48 billion. Funding is awarded through a competitive peer-review process to over 2,500 universities, medical schools, and research institutions across the country.