Augusta University Research Institute, Inc.

Augusta University Research Institute, Inc., doing business as Georgia Health Sciences, a nonprofit research subsidiary of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, operates as a prime recipient of federal grant funding and a prime contractor on service delivery contracts, performing biomedical and health sciences research across neuroscience, cardiovascular health, cancer research, and molecular biology on a full-and-open, non-set-aside basis.

The organization's federal footprint is heavily weighted toward grant work. Over the past five years, Augusta University Research Institute has managed roughly 1,042 total awards (898 prime, 144 sub) across 76 distinct customer agencies, with annual award volume declining from 103 in 2024 to 55 in 2026 and 2 in 2027, suggesting the source captures mature and recently completed work rather than forward pipeline. The combined potential value reported across all awards is $19.6 million, although obligated dollars total $1.5 billion, indicating substantial sub-award pass-through and a major role as a grant recipient managing federal dollars rather than as a contract service provider.

The Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health dominates the customer base. NIH accounts for approximately 52 percent of awards by count, with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (130 awards), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (63 awards), National Cancer Institute (55 awards), and National Institute on Aging (50 awards) leading. By dollar value, the Veterans Health Administration Veterans Integrated Service Network 4 anchors the portfolio at $2.6 million combined potential value across 38 awards—all delivery orders under a single-award indefinite-delivery contract (IDIQ) valued at $667,775 through June 2028 for animal laboratory and core services with cost-no-fee pricing. The Veterans Affairs work represents the largest concentration of contract potential value; the NIH grant footprint is volumetrically dominant but distributed across many smaller project grants ($118 thousand to $1.98 million per award).

Representative prime grant work spans biomedical research across multiple NIH institutes and the National Science Foundation. AURI holds active NHLBI awards investigating cardiovascular disease mechanisms—including a $1.52 million grant on the gut-immune-kidney axis in salt-sensitive hypertension, a $707.9 thousand grant on posttranslational control of vascular smooth muscle cell identity in coronary artery disease, and a $1.18 million cooperative agreement on epigenetic mechanisms of parvalbumin neuron vulnerability in Alzheimer's disease. Cancer research grants include NCI awards for heat shock factor 2 in pancreatic cancer ($568.7 thousand) and NRAS mutation targeting in melanoma ($154 thousand). The National Institute on Aging portfolio includes a $1.98 billion award on epigenetic mechanisms of selective vulnerability in Alzheimer's disease and a $646.6 thousand grant on psychosocial stress and circadian dysfunction in aging. NSF awards focus on distributed algorithms and computing—recent grants include $576.4 thousand (CAREER award in proteolytic cleavage mechanisms), $285.9 thousand (resource-efficient Byzantine protocols), and $175 thousand (impact of knowledge on distributed algorithm performance). The organization also manages training and workforce-development grants, including an NSF $1.99 million CyberAI scholar preparation program and an NIH $118.1 thousand aging research medical student training program (PARIS).

On the contract side, AURI's primary vehicle is the VA VISN 4 indefinite-delivery contract for animal laboratory and core services. The organization issued 24 delivery orders under this vehicle through February 2024, with individual task orders ranging from $938 to $96.9 thousand and most clustering between $1,627 and $49,466. Recent orders issued July 1, 2026 included $102.2 thousand, $66.9 thousand, $26.1 thousand, and $15.1 thousand for animal lab support completing June 30, 2027. A single Army Southern Command purchase order for cyber range usage ($91.5 thousand, completed May 2025) represents the only other contract in the recent sample. AURI holds no position on government-wide or agency-wide GWACs or multiple-award schedules reflected in the source.

The subcontract and sub-award footprint reflects significant downstream engagement. AURI serves as sub-recipient on federal grants from prime recipients including the University of Washington (immunometabolism in cardiovascular disease), Emory University (Cystic Fibrosis Center, Southern Regional Disaster Response System, APOL1 kidney transplant outcomes network), the University of Kentucky (colorectal cancer epidemiology), Georgia State University (various biomedical research projects), and Case Western Reserve University (cardiac research). AURI also subcontracts to Triad National Security, LLC on an IGF competition for Los Alamos National Laboratory management. These sub-awards typically involve specific investigator or laboratory contributions to larger, multi-site research initiatives—examples include Dr. Filosa's laboratory conducting vascular reactivity experiments for diastolic heart failure studies, Dr. Talbert coordinating informatics resources for opioid overdose response research, and Dr. Benevides providing data analysis and health systems research for disability health initiatives.

AURI's capability portfolio, as evidenced by its award activity, centers on investigator-initiated basic and translational biomedical research spanning cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, cancer biology, immunology, and aging mechanisms. The organization operates specialized laboratory infrastructure including animal research facilities (supporting the VA contract), and access to core facilities for high-resolution imaging (microCT), genomics, bioinformatics, and histology. Workforce development and training programs in cybersecurity, addiction medicine, and geriatric research represent a secondary capability stream. The organization does not compete on set-aside vehicles or claim socioeconomic designations; all recent awards are full-and-open competitions.

The 100 awards completing within the next 24 months (combined potential value $210 thousand) and the sharply declining award volume in 2026–2027 suggest a portfolio in transition, with mature grants moving off the books and a slower intake of new awards in the current capture period. AURI's position as a subsidiary of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents anchors its role as an academic research organization rather than a federal services contractor; the volume and dollar magnitude of the award footprint reflect a research institute, not a commercial service provider.