By Dorothy Hagmajer and Todd Taylor
Neuroscience/neurology and neurosurgery research at the University of Florida ranked No. 2 in NIH funding among all public universities in the U.S., according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research’s 2024 rankings.
UF’s Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery ranked No. 2 among public universities and No. 4 among all universities — public and private — with $12.7 million in NIH funding in 2024.
“This ranking is the result of decades of work by our faculty and our investigators,” said Brian Hoh, M.D., M.B.A., chair of neurosurgery. “The goal has always been to take better care of our patients — to find better treatments to not only extend their length of life, but preserve its quality, too.”
Hoh ranked No. 7 among neurosurgery principal investigators nationwide with $3.2 million in funding.
UF neurosciences — a combined ranking of the departments of neuroscience and neurology — ranked No. 2 among all public universities and No. 3 overall in the new rankings with $33.1 million in NIH funding. Katharina Busl, M.D., M.S., chief of UF’s division of neurocritical care, ranked No. 13 among principal investigators in the neurosciences nationwide with $3.5 million in funding.
“These rankings are a testament to the bench-to-bedside approach of our research teams in their efforts to enhance brain health and transform the treatment of neural disorders,” said Jennifer Bizon, Ph.D., chair of UF’s department of neuroscience and director of the McKnight Brain Institute.
“This NIH support is a reflection of our faculty’s collaborative and innovative approaches to advance the understanding and management of complex neurological conditions,” said Michael S. Jaffee, M.D., chair of UF’s department of neurology.
Across UF, neuroscience, neurology and neurosurgery researchers are investigating mechanisms of disease, better methods of diagnosis, and potential new therapies in disorders ranging from stroke and traumatic brain injury to developmental and neuropsychiatric disorders to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and more.
Among the largest projects contributing to the neurosurgery department’s rankings is a randomized, phase 3 clinical trial led by Hoh called Comparison of Anticoagulation and anti-Platelet Therapies for Intracranial Vascular Atherostenosis, or CAPTIVA. The $38 million, five-year grant, now in its fourth year, focuses on identifying the best antithrombotic treatment for patients with symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis, in hopes of reducing the risk of recurrent strokes.
Other NIH-funded projects in the department of neurosurgery center on improving treatments for malignant brain tumors. UF investigators are developing novel therapies using immunotherapy, RNA nanoparticles and CAR T-cell therapy, techniques showing promising results in preclinical studies. Notably, the research extends across the lifespan — one of the studies, led by Catherine Flores, Ph.D., explores targeting of pediatric brain tumors.
Propelling UF’s combined neurosciences and neurology ranking is a clinical trial led by principal investigators Busl; Carolina Maciel, M.D., MSCR; Hoh; and Cameron Smith, M.D., Ph.D., that combines expertise in neurology, neurocritical care, neurosurgery, anesthesia and pain medicine. The trial is focused on patients who have suffered pain from sudden, excruciating headaches stemming from subarachnoid hemorrhage. The 12-site national clinical trial is using a form of a nerve block as a means of sparing participants from opioid medications.
Other NIH-funded projects contributing to UF’s neurosciences ranking include a study to develop personalized therapies for patients with Tourette syndrome using deep brain stimulation led by Michael Okun, M.D., and a study investigating vagus nerve stimulation as a potential intervention to treat methamphetamine addiction led by Habibeh Khoshbouei, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings, published annually, are derived from data compiled and released by the NIH shortly after the federal fiscal year ends. Visit brimr.org to learn more.