Three Medical Schools Advance in 2025 NIH Funding Rankings
The University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine rose to No. 21 nationally with nearly $314 million in NIH funding, while Colorado School of Public Health climbed to No. 17 with over $22 million. Wayne State University School of Medicine ranked 73rd with $61.6 million.
The University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine moved to No. 21 among all medical schools and No. 8 among public medical schools in the 2025 Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings, with nearly $314 million in National Institutes of Health funding. This marks the school's best ranking in 20 years, when it ranked No. 20 in 2006.
The school improved from 22nd place in 2024 with an additional $9.7 million in funding from the NIH. Nine clinical departments ranked in the top 15 nationally, up from six in 2024. The Department of Pediatrics ranked No. 1 with more than $63 million in funding from the NIH, the Department of Pharmacology ranked No. 4 with more than $22.5 million, the Department of Orthopedics ranked No. 5 with $6.7 million, and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ranked No. 6 with more than $3.5 million.
The Departments of Otolaryngology, Emergency Medicine, and Anesthesiology were ranked 11th respectively, while the Departments of Family Medicine and Dermatology both ranked 12th. Internal Medicine ranked 14th.
The Colorado School of Public Health rose to No. 17 in the Blue Ridge rankings, advancing from No. 18 in the prior year. The school secured more than $22 million in NIH funding in 2025. Since first entering the Top 20 in 2020, the school has increased its NIH funding by more than $10 million.
Investigators received significant NIH awards supporting work in diabetes treatment and prevention, cancer research, and injury and violence prevention. Because faculty research conducted at Colorado State University is attributed through CSU's academic units, the Blue Ridge rankings only reflect funding received by investigators based at the University of Colorado Anschutz Campus. Across all three campuses, CSU, CU, and UNC, researchers secured nearly $27 million in NIH funding.
Wayne State University School of Medicine placed 73rd nationally among medical schools securing NIH grant funding in 2025, with a total of $61,682,458 in grants. The school ranks third in Michigan's medical schools in NIH grant funding.
Four WSU departments placed in the nation's top 25 in NIH grant funding. The Department of Emergency Medicine ranks tenth in the nation with $5,317,917 in NIH grant funding. The Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences ranks 14th in the nation with $8,837,382 in funding. The Department of Radiology ranked 21st nationally with $13,040,076 in grants. The Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences ranked 25th nationally with $1,531,083.
Nine WSU departments ranked in the top 50 nationally. The Department of Physiology ranked 33rd in the nation with $6,034,179 in funding. The Department of Pathology ranked 34th nationally with $8,803,556 in NIH grants. The Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics ranks 35th nationwide with $3,423,918 in grants. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ranked 37th nationally with $2,249,299 in grants from the NIH. The Department of Neurosurgery ranked 50th nationally with $525,636 in grants.
The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research has monitored NIH funding to medical schools and other health science schools and organizations since 2006. It generates an annual ranking of NIH funding for U.S. medical schools and their departments based on total funding granted from the National Institutes of Health.