Facts & figures
(as of fiscal year ending June 30, 2020)
VCU’s research enterprise has grown exponentially in the last decade. This year, of the $335 million in sponsored research, $169 million were federally funded grants.
Leading a $50 million, five-year federal grant to oversee a national study of the long-term impacts of mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions on service members and veterans.
Multiple grants expanded Massey Cancer Center’s research on finding causes and cures for various cancers, including pancreatic and triple negative breast cancer, which grows and spreads faster, has limited treatment options and a worse prognosis.
With more than $8 million in federal grants, VCU leads a consortium to focus on how to best provide training and employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
A $7.8 million NIH grant renewal to VCU’s Alcohol Research Center is deepening our understanding of the genetic components of alcohol-related disorders.
Backed by a National Institute on Drug Abuse award of nearly $11 million, VCU continues to participate in the largest long-term study of brain development and child health ever conducted in the U.S.
VCU remains committed to cultivating STEM talent among racial and ethnic minorities. A decade of nearly $13 million in federal funding strengthens our set of research and training programs to identify and support underrepresented biomedical scientists. VCU is one of only two institutions in the U.S. to offer these programs at all levels of higher education.
Grants totaling $2.28 million from the National Institute of Justice help investigators in the Department of Forensic Science to develop and evaluate new forensic tools.
A $2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy leading to development of next-generation rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles.
VCU received $2.5 million in royalty and licensing income from faculty inventions licensed to companies, with some of the funding used to support “proof of concept” funding to mature and validate new innovative technologies.
The spring 2020 semester brough new leadership to the Honors College and the College of Humanities and Sciences, and solidified leadership for the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.
Scott C. Breuninger, Ph.D., was named dean of the Honors College in February 2020 with a start date of July 1. Breuninger comes to VCU from the University of South Dakota.
Jennifer Malat, Ph.D., was named dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences in March 2020 with a start date of July 1. Malat comes to VCU from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
Susan T. Gooden, Ph.D., was named dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs in April after serving as interim dean at the Wilder School since May 2018.
Total for VCU, VCU Health System and affiliated foundations (FY 2018-19)
$841.6 million — smashing the $750 million goal — raised since the Make It Real Campaign for VCU began in 2012
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