Zoe Berg

The School of Medicine ranked third in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding in 2024, with three departments ranking first nationally among their peers.

The funding data, compiled annually by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, show that the Departments of Comparative Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry each received more NIH funding than any other departments in their respective fields.

The School of Medicine received over $598 million in NIH funding last fiscal year, a nearly 5 percent increase from 2023. The School of Public Health, included in Yale’s total for the final time before becoming an independent institution, ranked third among public health schools.

“The continued rise in the ranking in NIH funding reflects the excellence and commitment of faculty in Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health,” medical school Dean Nancy Brown wrote in an email to the News. “It also reflects a return on investments in the priorities of the University Science Strategic Plan, including in neuroscience, inflammation, cancer, and data science.”

One of the departments receiving the most NIH funding among peers, Comparative Medicine, integrates research on a range of species and model systems, linking basic science discoveries with human-focused investigations.

Chair Tamas Horvath described this breadth as essential to the department’s approach and funding success.

“I believe that [the ranking] is due to our faculty’s in-depth, albeit broad interest in biomedicine using multiple model systems as well as human subjects,” Horvath wrote in an email to the News. “Thus, we provide a platform from basic sciences to direct interrogation of the human condition.”

Faculty in the department approach the mammalian body as a coordinated system, with research spanning metabolic, neurological and behavioral health. The department’s work often examines how functions at the cellular and tissue levels influence higher-order processes, such as cognition and behavior.

This systems-based orientation distinguishes Yale’s program from others nationally, Horvath wrote. Rather than organizing around a single disease or organ, the department studies interrelated biological mechanisms across species.

Collaboration with researchers across departments, institutions and disciplines has also been key to the department’s grant success. Horvath emphasized that such partnerships are not only beneficial but necessary for meaningful translational science.

Another department that led the nation in its field is Emergency Medicine. The department’s top ranking reflects a broad portfolio of research initiatives focused on both acute care and longer-term public health needs.

Faculty in the department conduct research on a range of topics, including opioid and alcohol use disorders, stroke and neurological emergencies and cardiovascular resuscitation.

“We have a very talented group of investigators studying important topics related to the fields of emergency medicine and addiction,” Gail D’Onofrio, professor and chair of the department, wrote to the News. 

D’Onofrio emphasized that the department’s operations are supported by research staff, administrators and pharmacists who manage clinical trials and assist with electronic health record integration.

She noted the department’s involvement in national networks focused on addiction and acute care trials.

“It takes a village — literally — to especially do clinical trials in the emergency department setting,” she wrote.

Yale’s Department of Psychiatry also ranked first in the nation, with more than $113 million in NIH funding. According to department chair Dr. John Krystal, the total includes awards to the department as well as the Yale Child Study Center.

Krystal attributed the ranking to the combined efforts of researchers, clinicians, trainees, staff and study participants. “No single person achieved this ranking,” Krystal wrote in an email to the News. 

Krystal pointed to the department’s recent contributions to research on schizophrenia, psychiatric biomarkers, tobacco use and psychedelic science as evidence of the quality of its work.

Faculty leaders noted that while rankings reflect funding totals, long-term research impact will depend on continued collaboration, infrastructure support and researcher retention. Dean Brown wrote that maintaining Yale’s position requires sustained investment, particularly during a time of uncertainty in federal science policy.

“We have recruited some amazing scientists and supported those who were already here,” Brown wrote. “It is important that we continue to do that during a time of uncertainty.”

As national conversations around NIH policy and federal research spending continue, department leaders expressed a range of perspectives on how political shifts may affect funding stability and long-term research planning.

Horvath wrote that despite current uncertainties, his department intends to maintain its focus on foundational, curiosity-driven science.

He added that research grounded in relevance to human health remains essential, regardless of external pressures. 

“If the projects we design and execute have relevance to the human condition, we will prevail regardless of day-to-day politics at state, national or international level,” he wrote.

D’Onofrio similarly acknowledged the potential risks of changes in federal funding priorities but emphasized the broad applicability of her department’s work as a stabilizing force.

“Our trials are investigating multiple diseases, illness and injuries affecting broad populations that could potentially improve the health of the public,” she wrote.

The Yale School of Medicine is located at 333 Cedar St.