NIH Funding Fuels Economic Growth and Creates Jobs in Hawai’i: A Closer Look at the Impact of National Institutes of Health Grants

In Fiscal Year 2023, a researcher from the University of Hawai’i was awarded $58 million in federal biomedical research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This funding generated $158 million in economic activity in the state and supported 819 local jobs. According to a recent report by United for Medical Research, NIH funding supports employment and the purchase of research-related goods, services, and materials. The income generated from these activities cycles through the economy, producing new economic activity. The report estimates that every $1 of NIH funding generates $2.46 in new economic activity.

Vassilis L. Syrmos, Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Hawai’i, emphasized the critical role that NIH funding plays in supporting the work of researchers at the institution. He highlighted how this funding helps in curing diseases, eliminating cancer, and improving health equity among under-represented groups and rural communities across Hawai’i and the Pacific.

Nationally, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding totaled $37 billion in Fiscal Year 2023, supporting 412,041 jobs and generating $92.9 billion in new economic activity. In Hawai’i alone, researchers received $68.7 million in NIH funding during Fiscal Year 2023, with 85% going to the University of Hawai’i. The majority of this funding went towards research projects at the University of Hawai’i Cancer Center and John A Burns School of Medicine at Mānoa campus