Without a lot of fanfare, Jefferson Medical College (JMC) has risen to the top 25 percent of all medical schools in the United States receiving training grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Of 124 medical colleges receiving NIH training grants, Jefferson now ranks 30th, says Gerald Litwack, PhD, Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs, JMC. The ranking is based on an analysis conducted by Dr. Samuel Herman, Jefferson’s liaison to NIH, in Bethesda, Maryland.

In terms of total NIH research dollars, Jefferson ranks 40th nationally, among the top 33 1/3
percent, Dr. Litwack adds.

“For the fiscal year ending June 1999, our total research income, including NIH and all other sources, is estimated to be more than $94 million. This is about a $10 million increase over the previous year,” Dr. Litwack says.

In explaining the significance of being ranked 30th for training funds, Dr. Litwack says “Many scientists believe that a training grant is an indicator of the quality of research going on in an institution.

“So we are clearly in a superior position nationally in terms of training grants. Our goal is to reach the top 25 percent in total NIH funding as well,” he says.

17 NIH Training Grants

“Jefferson currently has about 17 NIH-supported training grants, an annual amount exceeding $2.5 million per year for training, which is an outstanding record for an institution of our size.”

Helping boost Jefferson into the top 25 percent for training grants is a recent $1.2 million award to Jefferson’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

In effect since June 1, the five-year grant will pay stipends for four postdoctoral and four pre-doctoral fellowships in the area of biomolecular signal transduction. The NIH-funded faculty preceptors come equally from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and from the Kimmel Cancer Institute.

Three of the 17 current NIH training grants are for medical students, for summer research in cancer, in blood and lung disease as well as other areas, Dr. Litwack adds.

“We should take considerable pride in this because our success in funding medical students’ summer research outpaces a number of other medical schools. Every summer we generate 35 slots for freshmen medical students who wish to experience research.”

In addition, the Dean’s Office budgets training support for  computer science and other programs.

All positions for summer medical student research are funneled through the Office of Scientific Affairs under the direction of Catherine E. Calkins, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Director of Special Programs, Office of Scientific Affairs, JMC.

Dr. Litwack anticipates that to continue to increase our funding from NIH, “Our best recourse will be to increase the size of our faculty.”

Meanwhile Dr. Litwack stresses that “It’s important to emphasize that Jefferson stands very high nationally in acquiring NIH training grants. Our rank is a real feather in this institution’s cap and clearly reflects the high quality of work going on at Jefferson.”

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