Hawai’i Receives $58 Million in Federal Biomedical Research Grants from NIH, Generating $158 Million in Economic Activity and Supporting 819 Local Jobs

The University of Hawaiʻi received $58 million in federal biomedical research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Fiscal Year 2023, which ran from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. This funding had a significant economic impact in the state, generating $158 million in economic activity and supporting 819 local jobs. The findings were reported in the United for Medical Research 2024 annual report, which analyzed the economic effects of NIH funding across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In Fiscal Year 2023, Hawaiʻi received a total of $68.7 million in NIH funding, with 85% of that amount going to the University of Hawaiʻi. Of the 93 NIH grants awarded, 79 were directed to various projects at UH institutions. The UH Cancer Center and the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine were responsible for a majority of the NIH-funded research projects during that year.

Vassilis L. Syrmos, Vice President for Research and Innovation at UH, emphasized the importance of this funding to researchers at his institution. It supports their efforts to develop cures for diseases, combat cancer and improve health equity especially in underrepresented groups and rural communities in Hawai‘i and Pacific Islands region. Additionally, these extramural grants provide much-needed financial support to Hawaii’s economy through research-related expenditures contributing significantly to job creation and economic growth within the state.

On a national scale, NIH funding reached $37 billion in Fiscal Year 2023, supporting over 400 thousand jobs and generating $92 billion in new economic activity. This illustrates the widespread impact of NIH funding on research, job creation and economic growth across