Cizik School of Nursing ranks 8th in U.S. for NIH funding

Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston continued its ascent in the rankings of nursing schools that receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), earning the No. 8 spot nationally with almost $12 million in 2025. 

The school maintained its No. 1 ranking among Texas nursing schools for the third year in a row, according to the annual rankings by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. Cizik School of Nursing’s NIH funding increased from $6,438,187 in 2024 to $11,959,508 in 2025. 

“The growth in federal funding for nursing science at Cizik School of Nursing may seem meteoric, but the momentum has been building for years as our faculty painstakingly laid the groundwork through pilot projects with private funding,” said Ansley Stanfill, PhD, RN, FAAN, associate dean for research and a Jane and Robert Cizik Distinguished Chair. “When I joined Cizik School of Nursing in August 2025, I was honored to succeed Dr. Constance Johnson, who helped prepare our Department of Research for today’s success. I am fortunate to lead this incredible team as their scientific discoveries improve lives for patients and families.” 

Grants in 2025 that boosted Cizik School of Nursing’s NIH funding include a five-year, $6.5 million award to Jennifer E.S. Beauchamp, PhD, RN, FAAN, and a $6 million, four-year continuation of an award to Jennifer Kawi, PhD, MSN, FNP-BC, CNE, FAAN. 

Through Beauchamp’s study, BehavioraL ActIvation for the PreVention of Post-strokE Depression in LoW-incomE OLder Stroke Survivors (LIVE-WEL) (R01MH140091), community health workers who are trained as lay counselors are delivering a behavioral activation intervention via remote, video-enabled sessions with survivors within three months of their first stroke. Her project is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health of the NIH. Beauchamp is an associate professor in the Department of Research, director of nursing research labs, and the Nancy B. Willerson Distinguished Professor in Nursing. 

Kawi is leading large-scale testing of a nonpharmacological pain intervention in rural areas of Texas and South Carolina. Her project, Personalized Auricular Point Acupressure for Chronic Pain Self-Management in Rural Populations (UH3AT012728), is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke as part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term^® Initiative. She is a professor in the Department of Research and a Lee and Joseph Jamail Distinguished Professor. 

“The breadth and depth of our faculty’s research is important not only to the populations it will ultimately benefit, but to PhD students who will become the nurse scientists of tomorrow,” said Dean Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FAAN, a Jane and Robert Cizik Distinguished Chair and the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair in Nursing Education Leadership. “Students who choose Cizik School of Nursing are mentored from start to finish by faculty who share their research interests.”

In 2024, the Cizik Nursing Research Institute was established to promote interprofessional collaboration and provide resources to support nursing science. The school also established the Roybal Center for Elder Mistreatment Intervention Research, funded by the National Institute on Aging of the NIH. Leading both is Carolyn Pickering, PhD, RN, the Isla Carroll Turner Chair in Gerontological Nursing. 

Other ongoing NIH-funded research at Cizik School of Nursing includes projects focused on food and housing insecurity, youth firearm injuries, HIV and substance use prevention among youth experiencing homelessness, and cancer treatment and survivorship. Additionally, faculty currently hold federal grants from the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Learn more about currently funded research projects at Cizik School of Nursing.

Sherri Deatherage Green