The UAB Department of Neurology recently ranked No. 22 in the nation in the 2025 Blue Ridge Rankings, which places the department among the top neurology programs in the country for research funding.
The Blue Ridge Rankings assess medical school departments across the United States based on National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding, a widely used measure of research productivity, competitiveness, and scientific impact. In 2025, UAB Neurology was ranked among 71 departments nationwide.
UAB Neurology currently holds $19.8 million in active NIH awards, with 18 investigators funded by NIH grants. During the department’s 2026 State of the Department address, leadership noted that neurology research expenditures have increased nearly tenfold since 2005, with research activity doubling approximately every seven years.
“The Blue Ridge rankings reflect the strength and consistency of our NIH‑funded research efforts,” said David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair and John N. Whitaker Endowed Chair of the UAB Department of Neurology. “Our No. 22 national ranking continues our track record of placing among the top 25 neurology programs nationwide and speaks to the ongoing work of our faculty and research teams.”
The Department of Neurology boasts several major research programs, illustrating the scope and depth of that growth. Among them is the Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, established in 2007 to advance translational research in neurodegenerative disease. What began with a single investigator has expanded to 20 investigators in 2026, with research teams producing approximately 70 to 80 publications and more than 9,000 citations annually.
The department also supports a growing pharmacogenomics program that focuses on genomic medicine research to identify predictors of drug response and disease progression, while emphasizing mentorship, training, and clinical implementation across the UAB Health System. Complementing this work is the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, which recruits a community‑based cohort reflecting the unique mix of dementia risk factors in the Deep South and generates a rigorously characterized dataset shared broadly to maximize translational research impact.
Additional efforts include collaboration with the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at UAB, which promotes cognitive resilience with aging through initiatives such as the McKnight Brain Aging Registry and the Brain Health Advocacy Mission embedded within UAB Family Medicine clinics.
UAB Neurology also maintains a strong clinical trials enterprise, with 206 active clinical trials, 16 trials in startup, and 14 clinical trial confidentiality agreements in progress, providing patients access to investigational therapies while advancing evidence‑based neurologic care.
Together, these efforts underscore the department’s continued momentum in research growth and national impact.