NIH funding in Oregon rose to near $428 million last year

After two years of decline, Oregon enjoyed a welcome uptick in coveted research grants and funding from the National Institutes of Health last year.

The number of grants awarded to state universities, startups and nonprofits grew by 3% to 789 in 2023 and the amount of funding rose 4.6% to $427.6 million, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. State NIH funding peaked during the pandemic in 2020 when it reached $436 million from 803 awards.

Oregon ranked 21st among states for the funding it received, which accounted for 1.13% of total NIH funding, slightly less than in 2019 when it received 1.3%

A recent study from a coalition of research institutions, health care advocates and private firms called United for Medical Research found that the NIH budget had grown by more than $17 billion between its 2015 and 2023 fiscal years, due to greater congressional focus on funding medical research. Altogether UMR estimated that 2023's federal NIH investment of $47.7 billion resulted in 65,454 grants amounting to $37.8 billion supporting 412,041 U.S. jobs and generating $92.9 billion in economic activity.

In Oregon alone last year, UMR estimated that 5,013 jobs were supported by NIH grants and $991.8 million in economic activity was generated. Much of it was tied to state public universities, especially Portland's Oregon Health & Science University, which all by itself absorbed 70.8% of the NIH grant funding and 512 of the 774 total grants.

Oregon recipients new to The List year include: Lake Oswego's Siloam Vision, which received $1.9 million in 2023 for AI and cloud-based technology to detect blinding eye diseases early; Saavsus in Eugene, which got $1.6 million to fund behavioral science interventions and educational materials that promote child and family health; and Ksana Health, also in Eugene, which reeled in $843,799 for technology to personalize and improve mental health care.