A national leader in NIH-funded research
Indiana University President Pamela Whitten announced this week that IU School of Medicine researchers received more than $243 million in total funding from the National Institutes of Health during federal fiscal year 2023. The school now ranks No. 13 in NIH funding among all public medical schools in the country and No. 29 among all schools nationally—both a record best for the school.
“This performance is a testament to the expertise and creative innovation of our world-class faculty, whose NIH-funded research is directly improving and saving lives in Indiana and around the world,” Whitten wrote in her weekly blog to members of the IU community. “Across our nine medical school campuses statewide, IU faculty members are delivering solutions to medicine’s most pressing challenges—including Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, addiction and pediatric diseases—while further solidifying our position among the nation’s greatest and most influential public research universities.”
Twelve IU School of Medicine departments ranked in the top 25 among all U.S. medical schools for 2023 NIH funding, including five departments ranked in the top 15. These departments contributed to the school increasing its NIH funding by more than $54 million, or 28%, over the past five years.
President Whitten also underscored the major impact of the School of Medicine’s record-setting research on Indiana’s economy. Based on data from a report by United for Medical Research, the school’s 2023 NIH funding has generated an estimated 3,142 jobs and $672 million in annual economic activity in Indiana.
Read President Whitten’s blog
Read IU’s press release
Statehouse Update
The seventh week of session moved quickly as the time for bills from the opposite chambers to be heard in committee remains short. The House has two more business days to hear Senate bills in committee and the Senate has four more business days to hear House bills.
Read the Statehouse Update
Economic Engagement Update
Indiana’s outlook for 2024
Indiana's GDP will grow at quarterly rates of less than 1% throughout 2024, while the unemployment rate will track steadily below 5% and often below 4%. These and other projections are included in the 2024 economic forecast from the Indiana Business Research Center at the IU Kelley School of Business.
As the IBRC notes, Indiana is investing in regions of the state in ways that encourage and even demand collaboration and cooperation, helping to make such regions bigger and more economically sustainable than the sum of their parts. These have been followed by unprecedented investments (either in monetary size or by their innovative nature) by IU and other universities. Other non-governmental entities are also “putting skin in the game” to the extent not seen before outside of the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Still, Indiana must continue to more effectively address the needs of 21st-century families and the businesses who employ them if it is to keep other states from luring away the most skilled and experienced Hoosier workers.
Read more on "Indiana's Outlook for 2024"
IU in the News
Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice commends work of IU faculty during annual State of the Judiciary
Research conducted by Indiana University scholars, led by Maurer School of Law Professor Victor Quintanilla, was cited by Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush ’83 during her annual State of the Judiciary as evidence Indiana is a national leader in court technology.
Read the full story
Student entrepreneur elevates athletes’ style, secures Super Bowl collaboration
In the space where fashion and sports intersect, Indiana University freshman Sam Law has become the preferred outfitter for a growing roster of athletes. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for fashion, Law is making a name for himself, boosted by his recent collaboration with Kansas City Chiefs rookie and former IU football standout Cam Jones on his tunnel fit for Super Bowl LVIII.
Read the full story
Interactive map of Frederick Douglass’ influence across America will be available to public
Faculty and students at the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI are creating an interactive map documenting the travels and public speeches of African American activist Frederick Douglass. The map will display dates and locations where Douglass visited while offering insights into the topics he spoke about at each stop. Once completed, the digital map will be accessible online as a learning tool for researchers, K-12 teachers and, perhaps, tourists as part of a cultural trail.
Read the full story
Go behind the scenes at the Little 500
Directed and produced by students and alumni of the IU Media School, “Two Days In April” brings you behind the scenes of the Little 500, the largest intramural bicycle race in America and the centerpiece of the World's Greatest College Weekend. The series brings viewers up close and personal with the riders, coaches, staff, fans, and alumni that help to make the Little 500 so important and relevant to Indiana University and the Bloomington community. The first episode, "Dedication,” lays the groundwork for what you'll find in the rest of the series.
Description of the video:
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[Applause]
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the earliest time I can think about when
I uh heard about the little 500 was
right when I got accepted to IU my
parents are both born and raised in
Indiana so my dad was like you need to
be educated before you go to IU and the
first thing that you need to know you
need to watch Breaking
away I think you can't talk about
indiaan University without talking about
the 500 I can go anywhere in the country
and if I talk to someone who is a
cyclist in that era or even just most
people that uh watch movies they know
what breaking away is they know what the
little 500 is they're asking about the
Cutters and asking about uh Indiana
universe and they're like oh my gosh
it's real that's so cool I'm Emily Caro
I'm the level 500 race
[Music]
director
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so the little 500 was started in 1951
howdy Wilcox is the founding member of
the little 500 he was out for a stroll
on campus one day and he saw some
students racing bikes around their dorm
and thought Oh my gosh like we could do
something with this so he thought all
right let's go ahead and combine our
bikes combine the Indie 500 and let's
turn this into an event to raise
scholarship money for working
[Music]
students I had said oh you know I'm
interested in little five and went to
our like interest meeting for bike team
and I don't know I think watching I
don't know they had like a little hype
video and listening to the people talk
about it I don't know I like made my
heart race I was like really excited to
do
[Music]
it cycling is is really a sport of
dedication you're really looking at when
can I squeeze this ride in and if I
can't squeeze it in before class can I
do it after class am I on my rollers at
6:00 a.m. and I am I on my rollers at 10
p.m. do I go out when it's still raining
or when it's 30° it takes just such a
large commitment you really have to care
about it 15 hours of my week for the
past three years like dedicated to this
activity and it's like some people just
don't get it but being able to like let
go of that and like you don't need
people to get it because you just do it
because you want to and because your
teammates love it and you're just
committed in a way that doesn't need
like external approval I think that's
really valuable these are girls who I
feel like I could rely on for anything
when you're like on a ride and you're
hurting and you feel like you know you
can't keep up or you're not good enough
to do it at all like these were the
girls who made me feel like I could keep
trying and keep going and like that it's
okay to like struggle a little bit and
fail um and build yourself back up and
that's why why I stuck with it because
you have a set aside time of 2 hours in
a day working out you know you have to
get ahead on your homework or something
it's actually like fueling you to work
harder in other aspects of your life
because you're physically challenging
yourself I think because we are
challenged every day with our workouts
and our biking like other things in life
become easier because we're used to
something that's so hard and like is
challenging us constantly so my I guess
advice to new rookie is just like say
yes to everything talk to as many people
as possible because this community is so
impactful and you'll never know who
you'll meet and who's going to like
change your life these are the people
that you'll be talking to 50 years later
you'll be in their weddings you'll be
the people that they call when they need
someone regardless of how close you are
you know distance-wise like these are
the folks that you hold on to for a
lifetime it's so incredibly impressive
just how big that network is and how
deep those bonds run yeah Teeter is my
friends and um they're my community at
IU and that spans throughout the little
500 teams and everything but this is how
I made friends at IU and it's how I know
that I have a place at this massive
University your house is like getting
you all riled up it's but you're also
like in the arms and like Trust of your
teammates at the same time so you feel
really
safe my goal is for every student at I
you to attend the little 500 while
they're here they don't have to race
they don't have to you know be as
involved and excited as I am but I would
really love to see everyone across
campus um turn out for this event and
that awareness of the race to grow grow
back um because it's a really really
special event um and I think that it's
something worth bringing national
attention to
