USF has jumped up in a new National Science Foundation ranking for research expenditures, with a total of $365 million in fiscal year 2010.

That puts USF at a number 50 on the most recent list compiled by NSF  — up from 65 on the foundation’s previous 2007 survey.   Hitting the top 50 nationwide also means USF joins an elite class of  universities such as Johns Hopkins, Standford, Yale and Harvard.   Statewide, USF is second only to the University of Florida in research spending.

USF Health research faculty are  front and center in the university’s latest ranking.  The largest group of research grants are attracted by the pediatric epidemiology center, headed by Dr. Jeffrey Krischer, which is working to find causes and treatments for type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases, as well a hosting the nation’s Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.

Major areas of health-related research funding at USF include the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, a USF College of Nursing initiative to evaluate PTSD treatments and other novel therapies for veterans, a College of Nursing partnership with Draper Laboratory looking for ways to accelerate discovery of new therapies for malaria, and a Nanomedicine Research Center studying tiny weapons of nanotechnology with the potential to revolutionize drug delivery and disease detection.

“The ranking shows USF’s maturity as a research university and the success of our research faculty in responding to the needs of a great metropolitan area,” said Dr. Paul Sanberg, vice president for Research and Innovation.