The Duke Department of Neurosurgery has been ranked fourth for neurosurgery research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 2020.
In addition, Duke Neurosurgery Chair John Sampson, MD, PhD, was once again the top-funded principal investigator among 265 neurosurgery researchers, according to annual figures from the NIH. This is the fourth consecutive year that Sampson has ranked at the top of the list.
Sampson's lab is actively investigating immunotherapy and new modalities of precision drug delivery to brain tumor tissue while avoiding healthy tissue.
Securing these highly competitive funds is one of the strongest indicators of the quality of a department’s research. “Duke Neurosurgery’s performance in NIH funding is a direct reflection of our bright and passionate faculty and staff,” says Sampson. “It is a testament to the progress we are making toward understanding the diseases of the nervous system – progress that ultimately benefits our patients and patients all over the world.”
Overall, Duke received $467 million in federal funding from the NIH in 2020, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, an independent research center that compiles an annual ranking of NIH funding for U.S. medical schools and their departments. Duke was the largest recipient of NIH grant funding in North Carolina for fiscal year 2020.
The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, investing more than $41 billion a year to advance research to improve health.