FAQ

What is the Cure Innovation Index?

The Cure Innovation Index is the first data-driven framework to measure how effectively U.S. biomedical institutions translate scientific discoveries into real-world healthcare solutions and treatments. The Index sets a new standard for measuring translational performance across the U.S. biomedical research ecosystem, making it visible, comparable, and actionable. Until now, academic performance has been traditionally evaluated by funding levels and discrete measures such as publications and patents. In contrast, the Cure Innovation Index evaluates the full set of factors required to move innovation from discovery to early research to clinical and commercial impact.

Why did Cure develop the Cure Innovation Index?

The Cure Innovation Index reflects our mission, as the premier healthcare innovation ecosystem, to accelerate cures and support biomedical entrepreneurs. Research institutions have been the source of cures that have saved millions of lives and delivered billions of dollars in economic impact. Unfortunately, most research never reaches patients. The Index addresses a fundamental shift in how we understand what drives success in biomedical research, examining the full set of factors required to consistently and reliably move innovation from discovery to early research to clinical and commercial impact.

We started out with one question: Why do two institutions with similar funding perform so differently in translation? The Index answers this and other questions that every research leader is now being asked: Where does an institution stand in translating research into real-world impact? What changes or investments are needed to improve? Through the composite index, peer benchmarking, gap analysis, and customized recommendations, the Index answers these questions and enables institutions to translate more science into cures.

For more, see Introducing the Cure Innovation Index.

How did Cure decide which institutions to rank in the 2026 Cure Innovation Index?

The Cure Innovation Index used two foundational criteria to determine inclusion eligibility for more than 6,000 universities, medical schools, hospitals, and independent research institutes in the United States.

The first criterion was institutional research status. Eligible institutions had to hold R1, R2, or Research College status under the 2025 Carnegie Classification.

The second criterion focused on research spending. Eligible universities had to average at least $10 million per year over the three years of 2021 to 2023 in R&D spending threshold across six relevant fields. Eligible centers and institutes had to average at least $10 million per year over three years of 2021 to 2023 in biomedical grant funding.

This yielded 303 leading biomedical research institutions from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

How did Cure Innovation Index rank institutions?

The Index evaluates 25 indicators across 10 subdomains within three core domains—Research Capabilities, Entrepreneurial Readiness, and Market Translation—rolling all into a proprietary calculation of the composite Cure Innovation Index score. The institutions are ranked by their composite scores.

Where can I learn more about the Index methodology?

A detailed overview of the Cure Innovation Index methodology is available in the methodology report on our website.

Why did the Cure Innovation Index Rank Universities separate from Institutes and Centers?

The Cure Innovation Index ranks universities separately from institutes and centers to reflect differences in their structures, missions, and the data sources available for each category. Ranking them separately ensures institutions are compared against peers with similar operational profiles, and that no institution is penalized, or advantaged, by metrics that don't apply to it. The Index measures universities across 25 indicators, and institutes and centers across 21 indicators. Institutes and centers included independent general research hospitals, independent specialty research hospitals, and independent non-clinical biomedical research institutes.

How did Cure define the three measurement domains of the Cure Innovation Index?

Research Capabilities measures the scientific strength, infrastructure, and funding base that enable institutions to produce high-impact biomedical discoveries.

Entrepreneurial Readiness measures how effectively institutions prepare and support researchers to pursue biomedical innovation and commercialization through training, mentorship, and entrepreneurship-focused programs.

Market Translation measures how successfully institutions convert scientific discoveries into real-world health innovation through technology transfer, industry collaboration, patents, and translational impact.

What data sources did the Cure Innovation Index use?

The multi-dimensional methodology of the Index uses validated data that is integrated from more than a dozen federal and commercial databases. These public sources include the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education; ClinicalTrials.gov; Higher Education Research and Development Survey (HERD); Graduate Students & Postdocs Survey (GSS); the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; National Institutes of Health; National Science Foundation; and major scientific awards databases. The Index also sourced data from Dimensions, an inter-linked research information system provided by Digital Science.

The Index additionally uses original data from surveys of more than 3,000 researchers and industry leaders and from institutional audits to assess their infrastructure and capabilities, including laboratory technologies, technology transfer operations, and educational curricula.

How did the Cure Innovation Index use advisors?

Led by Cure, the effort to develop the Index included a collaborative team of internal and external subject matter experts from academia, industry, government, and Deerfield Intelligence, a division of Deerfield Management Company, an affiliate of Cure. The advisors served as an independent group to provide guidance on indicators, category weighting, and safeguards. The advisors did not develop the Index’s methodology, nor did they score or rank institutions. Their role was to provide insights and recommendations that strengthened the Index’s rigor, relevance, and credibility.

How did the Cure Innovation Index safeguard its accuracy and objectivity?

The Cure Innovation Index safeguarded objectivity by using diversified data sources, data validation, transparent weighting, advisor oversight, and methodological consistency.

Beyond the ranking, how does the Cure Innovation Index benefit institutions?

The Cure Innovation Index provides a new lens for understanding how institutions make impact, showcases what best practices look like, and informs improvement areas. Beyond rankings, the Cure Innovation Index powers a data platform that provides institution-specific diagnostics, peer benchmarking, gap analysis, insights, strategic recommendations, and intuitive interactive data visualizations, enabling: - Benchmarks of performance against peer institutions across various criteria - Identification of translational strengths and gaps across key capabilities - Prioritization of targeted actions to improve outcomes

The platform is designed to help institutional leadership with strategic decision-making and investment insights. Faculty and campus entrepreneurs receive key recommendations and resources to accelerate progress from discovery to real-world impact.

How does the Cure Innovation Index benefit members of the healthcare ecosystem?

The launch of the Index comes at a critical moment for the U.S. biomedical ecosystem. Increasing emphasis on commercialization from federal agencies, heightened post-pandemic scrutiny, and intensifying global competition have shifted focus from discovery alone to measurable real-world outcomes.

The Cure Innovation Index provides a new lens for understanding how institutions make impact, showcases what best practices look like, and informs improvement areas. These actionable data and insights help institutions strengthen their ability to translate science into scalable healthcare solutions and sustain biomedical innovation leadership.

For faculty founders and campus entrepreneurs, the Cure Innovation Index identifies which institutions have the infrastructure, resources, networks, and ecosystem connectivity to have high potential technologies available for licensing and facilities to take research from lab to market.

For funders, industry, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, the Cure Innovation Index provides a clearer view of where innovation capacity and translational readiness are occurring across the U.S. research ecosystem.

By highlighting institutions that are most effective at turning scientific discovery into real-world impact, the Index supports more informed investment, partnership, and policy decisions, with the goal of accelerating healthcare innovation and improving patient outcomes.

Request a demo of the Cure Innovation Index data platform.

Who can I contact with questions?

For questions about the Cure Innovation Index, please contact index@cureexperience.com. Institutions can also get in touch to provide feedback on data, submit photographs, download public relations and marketing materials, and subscribe to updates on our toolkit page.

How can the Cure Innovation Index support my institution’s research and innovation strategy?

Please contact: Anthony Giordano Senior Vice President of Marketing, Cure E-mail: agiordano@cureexperience.com Phone: 347-563-3758