UMass Medical School boosts statewide research spending with 11% gain

Courtesy UMass Medical School was a key driver of increased research spending across the five-campus UMass system in fiscal 2017, according to a new report. The Worcester medical school increased research spending by nearly 11 percent last year, to $280 million.

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By Emily Micucci

The University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester spent $280 million on research activities in fiscal 2017, according to a research portfolio report issued by the University of Massachusetts system on Wednesday.

The UMMS spending represents a 10.6-percent – or nearly $27 million – increase over fiscal 2016. The growth was the major driver behind a $37-million increase in research spending across the entire UMass system between 2016 and 2017, UMass said in a statement. Research spending across the five-campus system rose to a record $670 million last fiscal year.

“This dramatic growth reflects the rising impact of our research enterprise and the groundbreaking work being conducted by our faculty,” said University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan.

Most of the research conducted at UMass is externally funded, with $377 million, or 56 percent, coming from federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Defense. Institutional funds are the next largest source of funding, at 27 percent, followed by 9 percent from industry and 7 percent from state and local governments.

UMass is the third-largest research university in Massachusetts, trailing only Harvard and MIT, and the fourth-largest in all of New England.