AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing has been ranked No. 7 in nursing school money received from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 2003, the highest ranking for a nursing school not linked to a health science center or medical school.
Last year, the school ranked 10th.
The ranking culminates a more than 10-year effort by the School of Nursing to strengthen its research efforts. In 2003, the school received 19 NIH awards totaling $4.6 million, up from 12 awards totaling $3.3 million in 2002.
Total funding from NIH research in the School of Nursing now totals nearly $19 million.
“In addition to teaching students how to give basic bedside care, our faculty is committed to improving healthcare through research,” said Dr. Dolores Sands, dean of the School of Nursing. “We are persistently energized in this effort. The fact that we continue to rise in the NIH ranking is a testimony to this.”
The NIH has funded numerous research initiatives in the School of Nursing, including caregiving, education and group support for diabetic Hispanics, memory in at-risk elderly, obesity, breast cancer support groups, health risks behaviors in youth, quality of life for those with chronic illnesses, end-of-life care and health disparity research. The school also is only one of eight in the country that has two major NIH funded centers—the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research in Underserved Populations and the Southwest Partnership Center for Nursing Research on Health Disparities.
Another outgrowth of the school’s direction towards research has been a $5 million endowment for nursing research provided by Gordon and May Cain in 2001.
“We are absolutely delighted with this new NIH standing,” said Associate Dean for Research Alexa Stuifbergen, who has spent more than 10 years in research to improve health care for persons with disabilities. “Being on an academic campus provides us with numerous opportunities for creative partnerships with colleagues from other disciplines.
“The interdisciplinary perspective is particularly valuable when addressing the complexities of change in health behaviors in humans.”
For more information contact: Nancy Neff, 512-471-6504.
