Institutions in Tennessee received $759.4M in NIH funding in fiscal year 2026 across 1,389 awards, #17 among states. Vanderbilt University Medical Center received the most, $416.5M, and the NCI was the largest funding institute.
| Rank | Institution | Awards | NIH funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanderbilt University Medical Center | 638 | $416.5M |
| 2 | Vanderbilt University | 337 | $127.5M |
| 3 | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | 198 | $120.5M |
| 4 | University of Tennessee Health Science Center | 74 | $38.8M |
| 5 | Meharry Medical College | 34 | $17.4M |
| 6 | University of Tennessee Knoxville | 31 | $10.2M |
| 7 | East Tennessee State University | 25 | $9.0M |
| 8 | University of Memphis | 18 | $6.9M |
| 9 | Oak Ridge Associated Universities | 2 | $1.7M |
| 10 | Tennessee State University | 6 | $1.5M |
| 11 | Baptist Memorial Hospital - Tipton | 1 | $1.3M |
| 12 | Corami Biotech Inc. | 1 | $1.2M |
| 13 | Virtuoso Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $1.1M |
| 14 | Decode Health, Inc. | 1 | $979K |
| 15 | Enigma Biomedical USA, Inc | 1 | $897K |
| 16 | UT-Battelle, Llc-Oak Ridge National Lab | 1 | $855K |
| 17 | Tennessee Technological University | 1 | $474K |
| 18 | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Llc | 10 | $454K |
| 19 | Childfree Trust, Llc | 1 | $434K |
| 20 | Middle Tennessee Research Institute | 1 | $408K |
| 21 | Popcheck Technologies Inc | 1 | $391K |
| 22 | Middle Tennessee State University | 2 | $295K |
| 23 | Biosight Llc | 1 | $238K |
| 24 | University of Tennessee Space Institute | 1 | $157K |
| 25 | College on Problems of Drug Dependence | 1 | $95K |
| Institute | Focus | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| NCI | cancer | $139.8M |
| NIAID | infectious disease, immunology and allergy | $101.2M |
| NHLBI | heart, lung, blood and sleep | $86.7M |
| NIDDK | diabetes, digestive and kidney disease | $64.9M |
| NIA | aging and Alzheimer's disease | $64.4M |
| NIGMS | basic biomedical science and research training | $57.3M |
| OD | cross-NIH programs | $36.0M |
| NINDS | neurology and stroke | $35.0M |
| NIMH | mental health | $24.1M |
| NCATS | translational science | $23.0M |
NIH awards to Tennessee institutions moved from $879.5M in fiscal year 2025 to $759.4M in 2026, a change of -13.7% against -0.3% nationally.
| Institution | FY2025 | FY2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | $499.2M | $416.5M | -16.6% |
| University of Tennessee Health Science Center | $52.5M | $38.8M | -26.1% |
| Meharry Medical College | $26.6M | $17.4M | -34.6% |
| Vanderbilt University | $135.4M | $127.5M | -5.8% |
| St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | $128.0M | $120.5M | -5.8% |
| East Tennessee State University | $5.5M | $9.0M | +63.6% |
| University of Memphis | $4.2M | $6.9M | +65.7% |
| Baptist Memorial Hospital - Tipton | $1.0M | $1.3M | +23.9% |
| St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Llc | $359K | $454K | +26.4% |
Largest decreases first, then largest increases. Every state compared.
See Tennessee university research spending (all sources, NSF HERD) and every federal funder.
Tennessee is #17 on NIH funding by state.