The School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD) is an accredited medical school and school for advanced dental education, with graduate education programs in biomedical, biological and health sciences. The facilities of the school are located in the URMC complex and the adjoining Arthur Kornberg Medical Research Building with research facilities. Dental education and patient facilities are located within the URMC complex and the Eastman Institute for Oral Health.
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History
Nobel Laureate George Hoyt Whipple, M.D., became the first Dean of the Medical School in 1921, bringing Abraham Flexner’s innovative model to life. Backed by George Eastman's philanthropy, Whipple oversaw the creation of a unified medical school and hospital that combined basic science with clinical practice. The medical school opened in 1925, and its first class graduated in 1929.
In May 2023, the medical school's Orthopedics Department opened the new UR Medicine Orthopaedics and Physical Performance Center Facility. The 330,000-square-foot comprehensive center was constructed as part of a $227 million project.
With a planned 2027 inauguration, a $650 million project on the site of the URMC's Strong Memorial Hospital campus is expected to modernize and triple the capacity of the Emergency Department at the hospital.
Academics
URSMD offers a variety of degree programs including:
Doctor of Medicine (MD)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in biomedical sciences
Master’s degrees in public health, medical statistics, clinical investigation, and more
MD/PhD and MD/MBA dual degree programs
Dental education, primarily through research-focused PhD and postdoctoral opportunities in oral biology in addition to specialty training
URSMD is composed of numerous clinical and basic science departments, including:
Department of Medicine
Department of Surgery
Department of Neurology
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology
Eastman Institute for Oral Health (affiliated with dental residency training and research)
Major research centers include:
Wilmot Cancer Institute
Center for RNA Biology
Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience
Environmental Health Sciences Center
Research
The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) is a nationally recognized research institution, consistently ranked among the top U.S. medical schools in terms of federal research funding per faculty member. The school is especially noted for its contributions in neuroscience, immunology, cancer biology, aging, and vaccine development.
The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience has received significant NIH support and is known for advancing understanding in areas such as traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, and neurodevelopmental disorders. The school also houses the Environmental Health Sciences Center, which investigates the effects of environmental agents on human health and is one of the longest continuously funded centers of its kind in the United States.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, URSMD was selected as one of the sites for early human trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, contributing vital data on immunogenicity and efficacy. Additionally, UR researchers played a leading role in monoclonal antibody therapy development in collaboration with Regeneron and other biotech firms.
The Wilmot Cancer Institute, affiliated with the School of Medicine and Dentistry, has been a leader in translational cancer research, especially in lymphoma, leukemia, and solid tumor immunotherapy.
With more than $160 million in annual NIH funding, URSMD supports over 500 active clinical and basic science studies. The institution fosters interdisciplinary collaboration across its many centers and departments, leveraging its integrated academic medical center to translate scientific discoveries into clinical applications.
Reputation
SMD has ranked in the top 35 graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report several times. In 2023, the medical school's class size was 105, the mean GPA was 3.82 and mean MCAT score was 516.
The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) is nationally recognized for its strengths in research, clinical training, and dental education. In the 2024 U.S. News & World Report rankings, URSMD tied for 32nd in research and 40th in primary care among U.S. medical schools, placing it in Tier 1 for research and Tier 2 for primary care. The school is also classified as an R1 institution for very high research activity. Its dental division, the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, is internationally respected and consistently ranks among the top U.S. dental institutions for NIH funding—7th in 2020.
Notable faculty and alumni
Current and past faculty members
George W. Corner, American physician, embryologist and pioneer of the contraceptive pill
Stafford L. Warren, American physician and radiologist who was a pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine and best known for his invention of the mammogram
Porter W. Anderson Jr., American microbiologist, best known for developing the vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
George Packer Berry (Prof. 1932–1949), later dean of Harvard Medical School
Henrik Dam (Prof. 1942–1945), Nobel laureate (1943, physiology or medicine)
George L. Engel, psychiatrist and creator of biopsychosocial model
Paul Fiset, microbiologist and developer of the Q fever vaccine
Lynne E. Maquat, professor of biochemistry and biophysics, pediatrics and oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center
Charles E. Phelps, expert on health care economics, former Provost (education) of the University of Rochester
Frank E. Young, American physician who served as Commissioner of Food and Drugs
David S. Guzick, American reproductive endocrinologist and economist
Harold Hodge toxicologist, first president of the Society of Toxicology
Barbara Iglewski American microbiologist
Alumni
Harvey J. Alter, medical researcher, virologist, physician, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Medicine (2020)
Donald Henderson, physician, educator, and epidemiologist, Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
James V. Neel, geneticist who played a key role in the development of human genetics as a field of research in the United States
Jason Diamond, plastic surgeon
Seymour I. Schwartz, prolific surgeon, author of Schwartz's Principles of Surgery
Julian Earls, NASA physicist, inducted into the Presidential Rank Award of the Senior Executive Service
Mary Calderone, physician and public health advocate who was an instrumental figure in the advancement of reproductive rights and sex education in the United States.
Bernadette Drummond, professor of dentistry in New Zealand and the UK
Arthur Kornberg, molecular biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1959 for his discovery of "the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)." Severo Ochoa of New York University was a co-recipient of the award.
Richard Locksley, medical doctor, professor and researcher of infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco
Kenneth Ouriel, vascular surgeon and researcher
William Masters, American gynecologist and the senior member of the Masters and Johnson human sexuality research team