Feinberg principal investigators secured a record-breaking $643 million in research funding and awards during the 2019-2020 fiscal year, an impressive 20 percent increase over the previous year.
Despite research challenges presented by a global pandemic, more than $24 million in awards were awarded to Feinberg investigators for COVID-19 related research.
“This record-breaking year for Feinberg’s sponsored research awards is a tribute to the creativity and innovative thinking of our investigators. This is especially so in a year where the challenge of a global pandemic could have been a great distraction. We can be sure that the discoveries enabled by this external support will contribute to improving the health of our patients,” said Rex Chisholm, PhD, vice dean for scientific affairs and graduate education and the Adam and Richard T. Lind Professor of Medical Genetics.
Roughly 28 percent of awarded funds were allocated towards basic science department funding and 72 percent towards clinical department funding. Of the total, $407 million was awarded from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an 18 percent increase in funding from the NIH over the previous fiscal year. Individual grant awards included 75 individual research fellowships (F awards), 58 career development awards (K awards) and 36 training grants (T awards).
Approximately 4,169 clinical trials and research studies were conducted at Feinberg in the 2019-2020 academic year, led by 667 principal investigators and 434 principal investigators on NIH grants. Additionally, a total of 83 patents and four new start-up companies were established within the last fiscal year alone.