“This is a significant accomplishment for our entire research program during a year of unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Carl Schulman, M.D., Ph.D., M.S.P.H., executive dean for research.

Based on fiscal year 2020 rankings compiled by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR), the Miller School ranked #40 in the nation and #1 in Florida, ahead of six public research universities in the state.

“We are extremely proud of the research taking place here at the Miller School and being highly ranked in many key areas, especially genetics, which demonstrates we are at the forefront with our peers,” said Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A., dean and chief academic officer of the Miller School.

The Miller School’s genetics program ranked #2 in the nation with $42.3 million in NIH funding, a jump from #4 in 2019. The ranking includes research at the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, led by professor and chair Stephan Zuchner, M.D., Ph.D.

Additionally, much of the genetics research takes place through the Miller School’s John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics (HIHG), led by Margaret Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Professor of Human Genetics, and executive vice chair of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics. The #2 ranking wasn’t the only success story in that field. Dr. Zuchner, Dr. Pericak-Vance, and Jacob McCauley, Ph.D., associate director of the Center for Genome Technology at the HIHG, make up three of the top ten funded researchers nationally in the field of genetics.

Working collaboratively, the Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and the Hussman Institute study the genetic makeup of some of the most vexing diseases afflicting people, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism, hearing loss, peripheral neuropathies, multiple sclerosis, and rare diseases and disorders.

Dr. Schulman noted that the average NIH funding for Miller School investigators was $930,000, far above the national average of $717,000. “Pound for pound, our investigators are more than pulling their weight,” he said. “Our investigators’ productivity in 2020 was remarkable, especially as Florida was one of the early centers of the pandemic. Our faculty, staff and students did everything they could to maintain our research activities, including staggering their work shifts, and coming in weekends and nights to keep their studies going.”

Five of the Miller School’s principal investigators ranked in the top ten of their national specialties besides Drs. Zuchner, Pericak-Vance and McCauley. Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., professor and chair of the Department of Neurology, is ranked #8 nationally in neurology with $9.6 million in NIH funding. Xue Z. Liu, M.D., Ph.D., professor and vice chair of otolaryngology, is ranked #7 nationally in otolaryngology with $2 million in NIH funding. Nineteen UM principal investigators have more than $1 million in NIH funding and are ranked above the 90^th percentile nationally.

Looking ahead, Dr. Ford said the Miller School’s aspirational goal is to gain another $30 million in NIH funding in the next few years to continue to attract the brightest minds and make more scientific advances. “Our challenges include the availability of research space and we are addressing that with our new research building, which should be under construction by this fall,” he said. “But we are well on our way toward our goal of being one of the nation’s premier research medical schools.”