Jackson Laboratory in top 100 U.S. institutions for NIH funding

Date: March 31, 2008

Bar Harbor, Maine -- The Jackson Laboratory ranks in the top 100 research institutions nationwide in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the nation's primary biomedical research funding agency.

Having received more than $50 million in NIH funding in 2007, the nonprofit research institution ranks 96th among all recipient organizations, including the nation's top universities.

Jackson is by far the largest recipient of NIH funding in Maine, accounting for 75 percent of the state's $67 million total in 2007. About 85 percent of the Laboratory’s 2007 budget – about $128 million – was spent in Maine, contributing substantially to the state's economy.

The Jackson Laboratory ranks seventh in NIH funding among its peer, unaffiliated organizations: those belonging to the Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI). Jackson's 38 research groups study cancers, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and a wide range of other human conditions and diseases, as well as normal development, reproduction and aging.

The institution's success rate in obtaining NIH research grant awards is 39 percent, nearly twice the average of 20.7 percent for all U.S. institutions and 23.7 percent for AIRI institutions, said Jackson Laboratory President and CEO Rick Woychik, Ph.D.

"I believe this speaks for the quality and innovation of our scientists' research," he said.

Woychik also noted that the Laboratory is undertaking a research expansion, with the number of research teams expected to grow to 46 over the next three to five years, and ultimately to 55 research groups in the next 10 to 12 years.

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution and NCI-designated Cancer Center with 1,290 employees in Bar Harbor, Maine, and another 78 employees in West Sacramento, Calif., and other locations. Jackson’s mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community. Its research staff of more than 500 investigates the genetic basis of cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, glaucoma, diabetes and many other human diseases and disorders, as well as normal development, reproduction and aging. The Laboratory is also the world's source for more than 3,600 strains of genetically defined mice, is home of the Mouse Genome Database and is an international hub for scientific courses, conferences, training and education.

Contact(s): Joyce Peterson, joyce.peterson@jax.org, 207-288-6058

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