Research funding to the University of Alabama at Birmingham from the National Institutes of Health topped $300 million in 2019, placing UAB 22nd in the list of universities receiving funding from the NIH. Among public universities, UAB ranks ninth.

The School of Medicine also placed 22nd among medical schools, with $256,395,438 in research funding, an increase of more than $23 million over 2018. The School of Optometry ranked second among optometry schools, with funding topping $4.95 million.

The School of Dentistry ranked 11th and the School of Nursing ranked 15th in the nation.

Within the School of Medicine, five departments were in the top 10 in research funding. The Department of Dermatology was second, with more than $8 million. The Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology was fourth, with nearly $16.5 million. The Department of Biomedical Engineering landed in fifth place, with $5.3 million, while the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences brought in $8.7 million, good for eighth in the rankings. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ranked 10th, with $5.2 million.

Other significant grant recipients were the Department of Internal Medicine, with $96.8 million in research funding; the Department of Genetics, with $21.3 million; the Department of Pediatrics, with $18.5 million; the Department of Microbiology, with $14.4 million; the Department of Pathology, with $12.2 million; and the Department of Neurology, with $12.8 million.