KU pharmacy school ranks third among all schools for NIH funding

LAWRENCE -- The School of Pharmacy at the University of Kansas continues to rank among the nation's elite programs in terms of securing funding from the National Institutes of Health, according to a recent analysis of data.

KU's pharmacy school ranked third among all 85 schools and colleges of pharmacy across the nation that received NIH funding during fiscal year 2002 in a recent survey released by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

KU's pharmacy school received slightly more than $10 million in NIH awards during fiscal year 2002, which began July 1, 2001, and ended June 30, 2002. Only the University of California-San Francisco, which led all schools, and the University of Arizona ranked higher than KU.

Other Big 12 pharmacy schools ranked in the survey's top 50 include: the University of Colorado (8th); the University of Texas at Austin (11th); the University of Nebraska (38th); the University of Oklahoma (39th); and Texas Tech University (41st). Another school from the area, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, ranked 34th.

Jack Fincham, dean of KU's pharmacy school, said the ranking is the result of dedicated faculty, exceptional students and involvement in major research projects, including a leadership role in KU's linkage with the Kansas City Life Sciences Initiative.

Among the biggest NIH-funded projects that KU pharmacy school researchers worked on during fiscal year 2002 was the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant. The five-year, $10 million grant awarded to Gunda Georg, KU distinguished professor of medicinal chemistry, connects 19 promising young faculty researchers from universities across the state to tackle cancer-fighting projects.

Fincham said the COBRE grant was a perfect example of how pharmacy school faculty members not only collaborate within their program and across the campus, but among researchers throughout the state as well.

"It's just a very positive reflection of how well people at this university work together," he said.

A subsequent COBRE grant, awarded this fiscal year to Robert Hanzlik, professor of medicinal chemistry, no doubt will help KU in next year's rankings, Fincham said. The five-year, $10.1 million COBRE grant awarded to Hanzlik will bring together scientists from across the state to work in the burgeoning field of proteomics, which is the study of cellular proteins and their structures, functions and interactions.

KU's pharmacy school has ranked in the top 10 of NIH funding for more than five consecutive years, Fincham said, but the current third-place ranking is the highest the program has achieved.

Fincham said this consistent level of excellence was especially impressive, given the current economic climate that includes cuts in state funding.

"We've been able to retain some very high-quality people who could easily go elsewhere and be successful," he said. "What keeps them at KU is the ability to work in a collegial environment with great researchers. The key for this to continue is to lay the groundwork for young researchers to see KU as a place to meet their goals, individually and collectively."