The College attracted more than $12 million in federal funds in fiscal 2018

The University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy has moved into the top 10 in the country in total federal research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health after securing more than $12 million in federal research funds in fiscal 2018. The number 10 ranking — among 142 pharmacy colleges in the country — is a record for the College for the second year in a row.

URI is the top ranked pharmacy college in the Northeast, and the only one in the top 20 that is not part of an academic medical center (hospital and medical school), which is ordinarily a significant disadvantage to attracting research funds.

“All credit goes to our amazing faculty members, who continue to make significant scientific breakthroughs that benefit the entire health community,” said URI Pharmacy Dean Paul Larrat. “Every breakthrough, every advancement in scientific knowledge they achieve are even more incentives to fund their work. The discoveries they make every day and bring with them into their classrooms benefit not only the current scientific community, but also the next generation of dynamic researchers and clinicians roaming our halls.”

The College has consistently ranked in the 20s among the 142 pharmacy colleges in the country over the last several years before soaring to number 11 last year. Faculty members have made a concerted effort to ramp up research funding, meeting regularly to strategize research efforts, target grant funding and mentor fellow researchers on proper grant writing techniques.

The College of Pharmacy employs a collaborative approach to research and discovery, within the College itself and in association with partner organizations. Pharmacy faculty members and researchers collaborate with such organizations as URI’s George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, the Rhode Island IDeA Network for Excellence in Biomedical Research (RINBRE), which is based at URI, and Advance Clinical and Translational Research (Advance-CTR), a statewide partnership among URI, Brown University, Care New England, Lifespan, the Providence VA Medical Center and the Rhode Island Quality Institute.

The federal funding fuels critical research in such areas as drug development, cancer treatment and prevention, neurological health and the use of natural ingredients in maintaining health, among a host of other important subjects.