For the first time, annual research funding to Washington University in St. Louis has surpassed $1 billion. External funding supports WashU investigators tackling big challenges from Alzheimer’s disease to air pollution to childhood depression. Research funding also ripples across the economy, sparking job growth, new construction and local spending, said Chancellor Andrew D. Martin.
“There is no question that this is an exciting time to do research at WashU,” Martin said. “This milestone is a reflection of the tremendous growth in research at WashU and the impact on the local economy.”
Funding from federal agencies, foundations, donors and other external sources has nearly doubled in the past decade, growing from $532 million in fiscal year 2014 to more than $1 billion in fiscal 2024. The reasons why are many, said Mark Lowe, MD, PhD, vice chancellor for research and the Harvey R. Colten Professor of Pediatric Science at the School of Medicine. WashU has stepped up its pursuit of external grants; strengthened its reputation as a trusted steward of funding dollars; and increased spending on necessary staff, infrastructure and equipment. But the big reasons, Lowe said, are the growth in WashU’s research faculty and the quality and the urgency of the research conducted at WashU.
Most research funding flows to WashU Medicine, one of the nation’s top medical schools. In fiscal 2024, WashU Medicine received $857 million in funding, including $576 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Of all U.S. medical schools, WashU Medicine is ranked No. 2 in the amount of funding it receives from NIH, second only to University of California, San Francisco. This ranking reflects the school’s commitment to leading-edge research that will shape the future of medicine and its ongoing success in growing its research faculty at a rate over the national average for medical schools. From 2017 to 2023, WashU Medicine increased the size of its research faculty by 30%. A strong base of research funding also helps WashU Medicine recruit top-tier faculty who further elevate the caliber of research and promote a culture of innovation.
Among the WashU Medicine projects funded by the NIH over the past year are two Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) centers to promote innovative research in endometrial cancer and pancreatic cancer; an international effort led by WashU Medicine researchers to extend recent advances in Alzheimer’s treatment to people with Down syndrome, who as a group have a high risk of Alzheimer’s; a study of the impact of asthma-like chronic wheezing illnesses on the brain development of children in the St. Louis area; and a multicenter study led by WashU Medicine researchers to determine the root causes of brain cell death in fatal pediatric neurodegenerative diseases.
Danforth Campus researchers also saw an increase in funding, including grants to create hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water; to build a device to measure lunar chemistry; and to launch a hub for multi-omics, which uses big data to better understand the factors that lead to disease.
A growing number of grants are funding studies and projects that address regional issues such as asthma rates among St. Louis children; colon cancer in rural Missouri; workforce development for the region’s underemployed; and flooding risks in Cahokia Heights, Ill. Lowe expects even more funding for region-specific research with the launch of the planned School of Public Health.