School of Dentistry retains No. 1 in Texas, top-10 nationally ranking in NIH funding

UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, for a second straight year, ranked first in Texas and 10th nationally among dental schools that received research funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2024, according to the annual rankings released by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.

Released in February, the annual rankings evaluate institutions, departments, and investigators based on the funding they receive from the NIH over the previous federal fiscal year.

According to the agency, the School of Dentistry maintained its stature with over $9 million in research grants funded by the NIH through September 2024, a gain of nearly $1.3 million from the previous year.

“The School of Dentistry is proud to have maintained one of its long-standing goals — to be ranked in the top 10 nationally among U.S. dental schools and first in Texas in research funding,” said John A. Valenza, DDS. “This year, we held our mark while increasing our total grant funding, which strongly reflects the commitment and achievement of our faculty, staff, students, and residents toward research.

“The foundations of excellence in education are patient care and research, and as we have elevated the school’s stature in both, it’s our students, residents, and patients who are the ultimate beneficiaries of these efforts toward improving both oral and overall health.”

The School of Dentistry was one of three UTHealth Houston schools to be ranked among the nation’s leaders in research funding. Joining the dental school No. 1 in Texas was Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston (No. 15 nationally) with $6.4 million in grant funding and UTHealth Houston School of Public Health (No. 16 nationally) with $25.8 million in research grants, respectively. McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston ranked in the top 35% of U.S. medical schools, placing 51st with $122 million in NIH funding, with four departments in the top 10.