DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University School of Medicine received more than $551 million in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2023, ranking seventh nationally among academic medical centers, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. This is a jump from ninth place in 2022. 

The Blue Ridge ranking is an annual, independent analysis of NIH research funds to colleges and universities. Nine clinical science departments and two basic science departments in the School of Medicine were among the top 10 in the country:

• 1st for Pediatrics
• 1st for Orthopedics
• 1st for Surgery
• 3rd for Anesthesiology
• 5th for Pharmacology
• 6th for Internal Medicine
• 7th for Neurosurgery
• 7th for Ophthalmology
• 9th for Family Medicine
• 10th for Genetics
• 10th for Psychiatry

Duke has ranked in the top 10 in NIH research funding nationally in 20 of the last 23 years, including the last eight in a row. Other programs ranked in the top 25 include Dermatology (15), Anatomy/Cell Biology (17), Obstetrics and Gynecology (18), Neurosciences (19), Emergency Medicine (23), Public Health (23), and Otolaryngology (25).

“Duke faculty and researchers are dedicated to shaping the future of patient care and delivering life-saving discoveries,” said Mary E. Klotman, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. “The rise in ranking exemplifies the School of Medicine’s growing influence in researching ways to make the nation healthier.”

The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, investing more than $47 billion per year to advance research that enhances health, lengthens life, and reduces illness. The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research is an independent, non-profit, scientific research institute that has monitored NIH funding to medical and health science schools since 2006.