Back to 2026 Abstracts
A Decade of NIH Funding in Urology: Trends and Patterns from 2015-2024
Arthur Yu, BA, Ryan Schumann, BS, Adrian Bozocea, BS, Amogh Gadekar, BS, Pierce Bagby, BS, Vinata B. Lokeshwar, PHD.
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA.
BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest public funder of biomedical and clinical research. Prior analyses have described funding trends in urology but have been limited to grants awarded to “Departments of Urology”. We aimed to comprehensively characterize NIH funding for urological research across all institutional settings, including basic, translational, and clinical sciences.
METHODS: The NIH RePORTER database was queried for urology-related grants from 2015-2024 using “Spending Category” and “Department Type” filters. Grants were manually reviewed to exclude those without a primary urological focus. Data on total cost, funding institution, awarded institution, renewal status, and award type were extracted. NIH budget data were used to calculate proportional funding, and linear regression assessed trends.
RESULTS: 10,024 grants met inclusion criteria. Annual NIH funding for urological research increased from $353,115,813 in 2015 to $493,199,802 in 2024 (+39.7%), with a significant upward trend (β = $16.1M/year, p = 6.70×10⁻⁸). However, urology's share of the NIH budget declined from 1.196% to 1.005% (β = −0.017 percent/year, p = 0.00040). Funding allocations were led by the National Cancer Institute (57.1%) and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (20.8%). Growth was primarily driven by continued funding of existing grants and increasing R01 awards, while new award volume remained relatively stable.
CONCLUSIONS: Although NIH funding for urological research has increased significantly, its proportional share of the NIH budget has declined over the past decade. These findings suggest relative underinvestment despite an increasing disease burden on patients and healthcare systems, highlighting the importance of national funding towards urological research.
Back to 2026 Abstracts
