UArizona College of Nursing Rises in Blue Ridge Rankings of National Institutes of Health Funding

Feb. 21, 2023

In February, the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) released its rankings for Colleges of Nursing funded by the NIH in 2022. The UArizona College of Nursing rose in the organization’s rankings to 23 in 2022, up from 27 in 2020, with $3.7M in awards.  The BRIMR is the only organization that compiles NIH funding across colleges in the United States. The rankings are used as a measure of research productivity.

UArizona Nursing was able to increase its ranking between 2020 and 2022 due to the combined efforts of many faculty to secure NIH funding. Dr. Terry Badger has multiple R01s, Drs. Bell, Gordon, Insel, Pace, and Rainbow also have R01 funding. Many faculty members have other types of NIH funding, including Mentored Scientist awards (Drs. Erickson and Fox).

“The faculty in the College of Nursing are highly productive,” said Judith S. Gordon, PhD, Associate Dean for Research in the UA College of Nursing. “They submitted 38 proposals in 2021-2022, which resulted in over $4.7 million in federal funding. We are very proud of their hard work and accomplishments.”


This ranking is a testament to our hard-working faculty. The College of Nursing’s increase in NIH funding is a direct result of their dedication to improving the care of individuals and society through discovery and testing of interventions designed to promote health and wellness," ~ Interim Dean Kathleen C. Insel, PhD, RN


“This ranking is a testament to our hard-working faculty. The College of Nursing’s increase in NIH funding is a direct result of their dedication to improving the care of individuals and society through discovery and testing of interventions designed to promote health and wellness,” said Interim Dean Kathleen C. Insel, PhD, RN, who received a $2.5 million grant that contributed to the ranking.

The BRIMR rankings underestimate the amount of research being conducted by UA College of Nursing faculty, Dr. Gordon said, adding the rankings include only NIH funding to faculty members listed as principal investigators within the College. The rankings do not reflect faculty’s roles on grants funded to other colleges or universities or other types of extramural funding, such as the Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Defense, NASA, or private foundations. The UA College of Nursing recorded over $6 million in research expenditures in 2022.

The College’s research aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the State of Arizona and our nation. For example, our faculty and staff are making innovations in prevention, treatment, and management of chronic illness, improving nursing workforce systems, and maternal and child health. The UA College of Nursing are leaders in health research and science.

The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research is a nonprofit organization that ranks U.S. medical schools by NIH grant awards each year. The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs and new treatments helping people live longer, healthier lives, and building the research foundation that drives discovery.

The Blue Ridge Rankings track yearly NIH funding awards from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The rankings are determined by the whole value of awards to a principal investigator’s institution and do not include research and development contracts.