Family medicine across the University of Minnesota Medical School, among all family medicine departments in the United States, has achieved the top Blue Ridge Ranking for NIH funding and is now nationally ranked #1.

Family Medicine Achieves #1 Blue Ridge Ranking for 2023

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Family medicine across the University of Minnesota Medical School, among all family medicine departments in the United States, has achieved the top Blue Ridge Ranking for NIH funding and is now nationally ranked #1.

Our #1 Blue Ridge ranking for 2023 reflects the combined sum of NIH grants awarded to our family medicine faculty working in the following four units: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; the newly joined Division of Physical Therapy; the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health; and the Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team. Our combined efforts lifted us into the #1 position, and it is an accomplishment in which we can all share together.

This tremendous achievement reflects the commitment and collaborations among our faculty and staff, whose dedication to the advancement of research and academic scholarship carries far greater impact than any metric or rating can convey, and yet this distinction is truly a remarkable national achievement. The daily work of all team members contributes collectively to elevate our research to this level. 

"This accomplishment is the result of an enormous team effort reflecting the work of faculty and staff in the Departments of Family Medicine and Community Health, Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health, and now the Division of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Services," said Department Head James Pacala, MD, MS. "Grant funding involves a tremendous amount of collaborative work—from the PI and all other investigators to the grants management team, the pre-award and finance teams, and the research support team. All are indispensable to the research that results from it, and this success is a collective achievement."