In 2024, the University of Hawai‘i received $58 million in federal biomedical research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), resulting in $158 million in economic activity and supporting 819 local jobs. This economic impact was analyzed in the United for Medical Research 2024 annual report, which evaluated the effects of NIH funding across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Funds awarded to researchers from the NIH support employment opportunities and the purchase of research-related goods, services, and materials. The income generated from these activities cycles through the economy, producing new economic activity. According to the report, 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 importance of NIH funding in supporting essential research work in Hawaii. He highlighted their efforts towards disease cures, cancer elimination, improving health equity among under-represented groups and rural communities in the region. Additionally, Syrmos mentioned that extramural grants from the NIH inject much-needed funds into Hawaii’s economy through research-related expenditures.
In Fiscal Year 2023, Hawaii received $68.7 million in NIH funding with 85% allocated to the University of Hawai‘i. Out of 93 National Institutes of Health grants awarded nationally during this year, UH obtained 79 grants; a significant role played by them in research projects throughout the state.
The University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center and UH at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine led most national funded research projects by UH faculty members in Fiscal Year 2023 . Nationally, a total amount of $37 billion was spent on NIH funding across all states and districts during this year; generating over 412 thousand jobs while supporting more than $92 billion worth of new economic activity
