The Medical University Of South Carolina

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), a state-controlled comprehensive academic health sciences center headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, is the recipient of extensive federal grants and prime contractor on definitive contracts and indefinite delivery vehicles—primarily in biomedical research, clinical education support, and healthcare delivery services. MUSC operates as a prime on the vast majority of its recent federal awards (86%), with the remaining 14% executed as a subrecipient or subcontractor to other institutions.

MUSC's federal contracting footprint centers on three capability domains. First, biomedical and translational research: the institution holds a $25 million indefinite delivery contract with Veterans Integrated Service Network 7 that has generated over $12 million in task orders since June 2022 across research assistance, preclinical medication screening, and clinical investigation support. Recent representative examples include a $1.11 million delivery order from VISN 7 for research assistance services (awarded January 2026), a $256,704 task order from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for compound evaluation in the CIE-FSS drinking model (June 2025), and a $3.55 million definitive contract with VISN 7 for offsite dental support services through July 2031 (August 2026). Second, educational cost support to military and federal healthcare personnel: a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) with the Department of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery authorizes MUSC to deliver tuition, fees, and educational support through task orders. Recent orders include $160,747 for fall-term tuition (July 2025) and $116,161 for tuition support (August 2025). Third, clinical and translational research training: MUSC serves as recipient on training and career-development grants supporting predoctoral, postdoctoral, and early-stage investigator development.

Customer concentration is moderate but skewed toward specific NIH institutes and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The top five funding agencies account for 45% of recent awards by count. The Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 7 leads in combined potential value at $77.2 million across 209 awards, followed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at $56.8 million across 94 awards, and the Department of the Navy at $25.5 million across 279 awards. The National Institutes of Health (across all institutes) is the single largest funding source by award count, with 444 awards. The concentration reflects MUSC's strategic positioning as a health services research and biomedical training institution serving federal healthcare and research missions.

MUSC competes predominantly in full-and-open federal procurement and grant competitions, with no set-aside designations on recent prime contract awards. Federal grant activity dominates the portfolio: of 2,783 total awards, the vast majority are research project grants, training grants, cooperative agreements, and cooperative research centers funded by the NIH, Department of Defense, and other civilian research agencies. Recent representative grants include a $4.14 million National Institute on Aging award for the Life's End Benefits of Cannabidiol and Tetrahydrocannabinol (LIBBY) Open-Label Extension Study (August 2025), a $3.75 million National Institute of Nursing Research award for the RESP-FIT respiratory muscle strength training intervention for COPD in rural populations (March 2026), a $2.27 million National Institute of General Medical Sciences award for the SC BRIGHT Center of Biomedical Research Excellence focused on traumatic stress research (September 2025), and a $1.98 million National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases award for advanced fibrosis detection in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in primary care (September 2025).

Activity has grown substantially year over year through 2024 (236 awards in 2024, up from 107 in 2022), though FY2025 and FY2026 figures show moderation, likely reflecting recent award patterns and data reporting lags. Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months totals 213 awards with combined potential value of $3.8 million—a modest cliff relative to the overall portfolio, reflecting MUSC's diversified funding base and multiyear project timelines common in research universities.

Service Contract Inventory captures a narrow slice of federal services activity—$6.2 million in invoiced prime contracting across FY2022–FY2024, delivered by an average of 13.9 FTEs per year. Median government-paid rates ran approximately $50/hour, with senior and specialized labor reaching $160/hour at the 90th percentile. MUSC operates primarily as a prime on SCI-reportable contracts, with subcontractors accounting for approximately 6% of contractor hours across prime records. This posture reflects the institution's role as a direct service provider and research performer rather than a prime systems integrator.

Teaming and subcontracting patterns show MUSC as both an independent prime (dominating its federal portfolio) and a strategic research partner to other universities and research institutions. The institution serves as a sub-recipient on numerous NIH multi-site grants, including the CARDIA Study (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) coordinated by Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and various clinical trial data coordination roles under primes including Duke University, Yale University, Stanford University, and others. MUSC's Data Coordination Unit operates as a named resource for multiple externally-led trials, positioning the institution as a trusted infrastructure partner within the research enterprise. Conversely, MUSC brings external investigators as sub-awardees on its own grants—for example, Georgetown University serves as a sub-awardee on MUSC's National Institute on Aging LIBBY trial for clinical coordination, and the University of Southern California's Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Consortium Coordinating Center provides trial management services.

As a state government entity and educational institution, MUSC does not hold GSA Schedules or commercial GWAC positions; its contracting is overwhelmingly confined to direct federal awards from civilian research agencies and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The institution's primary vehicles are indefinite delivery contracts and research grants, with minimal reliance on commercial acquisition platforms. MUSC's corporate parent is the State of South Carolina.