Who Is Funding the Science That's Too Early for Venture Capital?
April 22, 2026
Top Universities
Every university on this list represents the highest tier of U.S. biomedical research. We ranked 243 research universities across the United States on their ability to translate scientific discovery into real-world healthcare solutions, evaluated on 25 indicators across three core domains.
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University of Maryland, Baltimore
Baltimore, MD
University of Maryland, Baltimore ranks 41st among universities in the Cure Innovation Index. Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the university performs well across all three domains, with particular strength in market translation, where it places 36th.
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University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
The University of Alabama at Birmingham ranks 42nd among universities in the Cure Innovation Index. Located in Birmingham, Alabama, UAB shows its greatest strength in market translation and entrepreneurial readiness, where it places in the upper tier of ranked universities.
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University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
The University of Wisconsin-Madison ranks 43rd among universities in the Cure Innovation Index and is located in Madison, Wisconsin. Its research capabilities align with its overall standing, while market translation stands out as a clear strength, with the university placing 20th in that domain.
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44
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC
The Medical University of South Carolina ranks 44th among universities in the Cure Innovation Index, with consistent strength across all three domains. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, the university performs in the upper tier in Research Capabilities and Market Translation, and shows solid Entrepreneurial Readiness.
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University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL
The University of Illinois at Chicago ranks 45th among universities in the Cure Innovation Index. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the university's strongest domain is Entrepreneurial Readiness, where it ranks 17th, supported by an incubator, an entrepreneur-in-residence program, and biomedical entrepreneurship training.
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46
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Tufts University ranks 46th among universities in the Cure Innovation Index, located in Medford, Massachusetts. The university performs most strongly in market translation, placing 24th, and ranks 41st in entrepreneurial readiness.
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University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities ranks 48th among universities in the Cure Innovation Index. Based in Minneapolis, the university performs particularly well in research capabilities and market translation, placing in the upper tier across both.
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49
Indiana University, Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
Indiana University, Indianapolis ranks 49th among universities in the Cure Innovation Index. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, the university stands out for its commercial orientation, with Market Translation placing 15th and Entrepreneurial Readiness ranking 39th among U.S. universities.
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California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
California Institute of Technology ranks 50th among universities in the Cure Innovation Index, based in Pasadena, California. Its profile leans toward market translation, where it ranks ninth, a high standing for an institution better known for physical and engineering sciences than clinical medicine.
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Cure Innovation Index Methodology
From a pool of more than 6,000 institutions, the top 303 were ranked using two dozen indicators — from scientific foundation and lab infrastructure to patents, products, and partnerships — drawn from more than a dozen federal and commercial databases, an original audit of all institutions, and surveys of more than 3,300+ scientists, industry leaders, and biomedical experts.
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Innovation isn't a single moment — it's an entire ecosystem. The Index evaluates institutions across two dozen indicators, grouped in three core domains that reveal the full picture of what it takes to turn groundbreaking science into real-world impact.
Insights From the Cure Innovation Index
