UC Davis School of Medicine continues to be recognized for its national leadership as a prolific research community. We’re also expanding our innovative pathway programs to train the physician leaders our nation needs.

This year, the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research again placed our school among the nation’s leading medical schools for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding — with a new record-high $209 million in NIH grants in 2023. Four of our departments were ranked in the top 10 nationally — Neurology, Public Health Sciences, Physiology and Membrane Biology, and Urologic Surgery. The departments of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy, Emergency Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ranked in the top 20.

The Hartwell Foundation named UC Davis among the prestigious 2024 Top Ten Centers of Biomedical Research. UC Davis pediatric surgeon Erin Brown was also awarded a Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award to develop a stem cell treatment for neuroblastoma, the leading cause of cancer death in children under the age of five.

This spring, four of our faculty members were elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, recognized as innovators and leaders in their fields. These new fellows include Andreas Bäumler, distinguished professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology; Emanual Maverakis, professor in the Department of Dermatology; School of Medicine Vice Dean for Basic Sciences Luis Fernando Santana, professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology; and Renee Tsolis, professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology.

Our exceptional Class of 2024, which thrived despite beginning medical school the first year of the pandemic, graduated this spring. Eighty-one percent of our graduates will stay in California for their residency training programs and 54% will train in primary care. We are delighted that 24% will remain at UC Davis Health for their residency programs. The top specialties into which our students matched included internal medicine, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, general surgery, family medicine, and psychiatry.

Central to our national leadership in education is our innovative pathway programs that create opportunities for a wide range of talented individuals to pursue medical school. This year, we partnered with Cal Poly Humboldt to create the Huwighurruk Health Postbaccalaureate Program. This is the state’s first post-graduate education program that seeks to enroll pre-med students passionate about providing health care to American Indian and Alaska Native communities in rural and urban areas.

This is one of our many innovative pathway programs that is helping us to develop a physician workforce in California that better reflects the state’s population and contributes to improving the lives of all our communities.

Thank you for your partnership and support as we continue to make an impact in all our mission areas.