NEW: UAB shatters research award records—hitting all-time high

UAB is breaking records and reaching milestones once again. During UAB President Ray Watts’ annual State of the University address, he announced a record-breaking amount of research awards were granted to the University in the past fiscal year.

Here’s why it’s important.

$774.5M toward research at UAB

Totaling $774.5M in research grants and extramural awards during fiscal year 2023, this record-breaking amount of funding for research at UAB will continue to fuel innovation and new discoveries in medicine and beyond.

A large portion of the funding—$413.7M to be exact—came from National Institute of Health awards, keeping UAB in the top 1 percent of all NIH-funded institutions.

In addition, UAB received record funding from other agencies, including:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Department of Defense
• Department of Energy

“The dramatic growth of our research funding over a decade is a testament to the dedication, talent and ingenuity of our faculty, staff and students all over campus.

This continued increase in awards further positions us to achieve our ambitious goals for research—and all pillars of our mission—over the next five years.”

Ray Watts, President, University of Alabama in Birmingham

Impacts of research awards at UAB

Across the UAB enterprise, these research awards have gone toward some incredible developments in fiscal year 2023. Here’s a look:

• Harbert Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship:
  • achieved its ninth straight year with a positive bottom line, putting HIIE among top 20 percent nationally.
  • generated more than $6 million in revenues with 123 intellectual property disclosures, 40 licenses and 18 U.S. patents.
  • launched three startups, with 12 others approved and poised for launch.
• Southern Research:
  • has since garnered nearly $150 million to invest in life sciences.
  • pursuing a “3D” strategy—drug discovery and development; diagnostics and data; and drivers of commercialization.
  • has 180 active patents, $300 million in economic impact, 41 new drug candidates and has tested 50 percent of all active chemotherapies in the U.S.
• UAB Medicine, Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine:
  • UAB Medicine is home to the eighth largest hospital in the country, facilitating nearly 2 million patient visits annually
  • Continued medical breakthroughs such as xenotransplantation (study in JAMA provides additional data as UAB seeks approval for Phase I clinical trials) and the first uterus transplant in the Southeast, among just four in the nation.

UAB’s partners recognize the importance of research dollars to their missions.

“Southern Research is proud to be a translational and commercialization partner to UAB.

As Birmingham positions itself as the biotech hub of the Southeast, research funding is our rocket fuel.”

Josh Carpenter, Ph.D., CEO, Southern Research

Congrats to UAB on another outstanding year of research, innovation and education.

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