Rising Research at UHCOP

College Returns to Top 25 in National Institutes of Health, Retains No. 30 Spot in All Sources Grants

October 6 — The University of Houston College of Pharmacy returned to the top 25 in National Institutes of Health grants and retained its 30th place ranking in all-source funding among the 140 institutions of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, according to the AACP's recently released report for Fiscal Year 2024, which covers the period of Sept. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2024.

UHCOP's NIH funding rose to $10.9 million in FY2024—moving the college up two spots—an increase of approximately $1.4 million over FY2023. 

Among the largest new NIH projects awarded in FY2024 were: $2.6 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to Mingfu Wu, Ph.D., for "Mechanisms of signaling interaction between endocardium and myocardium" and $792,900 from the NHLBI to Bradley McConnell, Ph.D., FAHA, FCVS, for "University of Houston Cardiovascular Undergraduate Research Experience (UH-CURE)." 

Although the college's ranking remained the same over the past two years, total funding from all sources—including grants from the NIH and other federal agencies, the state, and foundations and other organizations—increased from $13.1 million in 2023 to slightly over $15 million in 2024. 

Among the largest non-NIH grants awarded to UHCOP researchers were $1.4 million from the Texas Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to Ming Hu, Ph.D., and Greg Cuny, Ph.D., for "Lead Optimization, Target Engagement and Efficacy Studies of Locally Bioavailable COX-2 inhibitors for Preventing Colon Cancer Progression in FAP Children" and $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Defense's U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity to Meghna Trivedi, Ph.D., Pharm.D., for "Investigating Nebivolol in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer."

“We’re proud of the highly relevant and impactful work of our college research teams to tackle some of our communities most pressing health challenges—from cancer to heart disease/dysfunction—across the age spectrum,” said F. Lamar Pritchard, Ph.D., R.Ph., UHCOP dean, professor and Humana Endowed Chair in Pharmacy. “