Albany Medical College Leads Region in NIH Funding

Albany Medical College led the Capital Region in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last year, with 35 grants totaling $11.5 million, according to an analysis by the Center for Economic Growth (CEG).

CEG reported that overall NIH funding for the region topped $71 million in 2022. It was spread among 19 local institutions and businesses.

“Biomedical research is integral to our mission as an academic medical center,” said Alan Boulos, MD, ’94, the Lynne and Mark Groban, MD ’67 Distinguished Dean of Albany Medical College. “The financial support our scientists consistently receive from the NIH is critical to their studies, and a significant indicator of the importance of their ongoing work to understand the mechanisms of disease and lay the groundwork for new treatments and therapies.”

Among the research projects awarded NIH grants in 2022 were studies on circadian disruption, a potential new vaccine for plague, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), cancer cell movement, and the regulation of calcium levels and their impact on neurodegenerative diseases.

Other Albany Medical College projects that were funded all or in part by the NIH last year include studies on rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, breast cancer, peripheral nerve repair, wound healing, and vascular leakage.

Founded in 1839, Albany Medical College is among the oldest medical schools in the United States. Through its four research departments focused on cancer, molecular science, infectious disease, and neuroscience, more than 60 scientists search for better treatments for a wide range of diseases. Together with medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows studying biomedical science, they work to ensure that discoveries made in the laboratories are translated into medical innovations at patients’ bedsides.