Figures released in February by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy indicate that out of 80 pharmacy schools — 57 having NIH funding — UM ranked 28th in total amount of NIH funding awarded.

“More impressively, when the statistics were based on the amount of funding per faculty member with doctoral research training, The University of Montana ranked 16th,” pharmaceutical sciences Chair Vernon Grund says. “Using this statistic, UM would rank ahead of such schools of pharmacy as USC, Minnesota, Arizona, Washington and Georgia and just behind Purdue, 14th, and Wisconsin, 15th.”

If the statistics were applied to the 23 EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) states, Grund says, UM would rank fourth behind Kansas, Mississippi and Kentucky for NIH funding. Based on awards per faculty member with doctoral research training, UM would rank second behind only Kansas. UM’s total NIH funding for fiscal year 1999 was just under $1,050,500.

“This phenomenal growth has occurred only over the past 10 years,” he says. “More significantly, we already have plans in place to enhance this productivity by at least 50 percent over the next two to four years, especially as we establish the Center for Environmental Health Sciences and recruit the new faculty to be affiliated with this center. The bottom line is, we’re not resting on our laurels and the progress to date. We’re really moving up quickly.”

Biomedical research funding supports faculty research and is an important component of a health sciences program, Grund says. Interacting with faculty members involved in cutting-edge scholarship enhances students’ educational experiences and “sets the groundwork for preparing a superior health-care professional,” he says.