Less than a year after UTSA and UT Health San Antonio officially merged, the newly combined UT San Antonio logged a sharp jump in national NIH standings, landing at No. 64 with $147,098,904 in NIH awards for fiscal 2025. University leaders are calling it a landmark moment and pointing to early investments and cross-campus pilot grants as evidence that the merger is already turning into measurable research momentum.
As reported by San Antonio Report, the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research's 2025 rankings place UT San Antonio at No. 64 among 2,702 institutions, pushing the university into the top 2.3% of NIH recipients. The institute's 2025 tables list $147,098,904 in total NIH awards for UT San Antonio for the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, as compiled on the BRIMR site.
In a university news release, Francisco G. Cigarroa said, "This is a landmark moment for our university," while Jennifer Sharpe Potter called NIH support "one of the clearest indicators of health research excellence." The release frames the ranking as validation of the merged campus's ability to compete for large biomedical awards and to expand clinical trials and translational work. The UT San Antonio newsroom highlighted those comments and the larger research totals, positioning the climb as early proof that the retooled institution can punch above its historical weight.
Where the NIH dollars went
The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine reported roughly $124 million in NIH support and ranked No. 50 among medical schools, while the School of Dentistry cracked the top 10 nationally with $9,770,084. "This year’s Blue Ridge ranking is a confirmation of our faculty successfully competing at the highest levels of biomedical research," the university said in its news release, pointing to gains across public health, basic sciences and clinical departments. UT San Antonio also published departmental breakdowns that show how widely the new funding is spread across campus.
National funding shift adds context
Blue Ridge's overview of the 2025 data found that while total NIH disbursements to U.S. medical schools edged up, many awards were concentrated among fewer principal investigators and the number of funded PIs declined. The institute also noted that schools of public health fared worse overall, underscoring how competitive new federal dollars have become and why UT San Antonio's climb is notable. BRIMR's 2025 report lays out those trends in more detail.
Early investments and cross-campus projects
University officials say the merger created room to launch interdisciplinary work quickly. The Office of Research and Innovation funded about $600,000 in pilot projects and convened roughly 300 people at an initial health research challenge. That competition generated about 72 applications and led to funding of roughly 15 collaborative proposals, an early indication that the merged institution can spark new partnerships, according to reporting by San Antonio Report.
What this means for San Antonio
The merger became official on Sept. 1, 2025, creating what UT San Antonio describes as the third-largest public research university in Texas by research expenditures. The new university encompasses about 40,000 students, roughly 17,000 employees and more than $486 million in annual research spending, scale that leaders say can broaden clinical trials, attract industry partners and keep research talent in the region. An UT San Antonio announcement outlines the merger's scope and ambitions.
Administrators argue that the ranking delivers a reputational boost that can help recruit senior investigators and secure multiyear awards even as federal competition tightens. "We intentionally grounded UT San Antonio in excellence," President Taylor Eighmy said at the time of the merger, and leaders now point to the Blue Ridge result as an early sign that the strategy is working. UT San Antonio officials said the work to integrate systems and remove barriers will remain central as they chase even larger grants.
