Rosalind Franklin University Of Medicine & Science

Rosalind Franklin University Of Medicine & Science, a private tax-exempt health sciences institution headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois, operates as a prime recipient and prime contractor on federal research grants and educational service contracts, with 94% of recent awards held as prime positions. The university competes on full-and-open basis across its portfolio; it holds no set-aside designations.

The university's federal footprint splits into two operational streams. The dominant stream consists of tuition and fees processing services for the Department of the Navy's health professions scholarship programs, grounded in recurring delivery orders under a Basic Ordering Agreement executed in July 2026 (N0018916GZ014, ten-year term through July 2036) and an active indefinite delivery contract (N0014098G2429). Recent Navy delivery orders have ranged from $17,425 to $105,419 per order. The second stream comprises federally funded biomedical research grants, predominantly from the National Institutes of Health and allied agencies, spanning neuroscience, aging, mental health, infectious disease, oncology, and pharmaceutical development. Recent grant awards include a $3.419 million Defense Health Agency Military Medical Research and Development grant (CFDA 12.420) on urinary proteomic biomarkers in military recruits (September 2026 through August 2030), a $696,253 National Institute on Aging award (CFDA 93.866) investigating perimenopause and Alzheimer's disease pathology in mice (September 2026 through May 2031), and a $465,301 National Institute of Mental Health award (CFDA 93.242) on social deprivation and amygdala development (July 2026 through April 2031). The university also maintains an indefinite delivery contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Service Network 12 (VISN 12) for animal housing, care, and purchasing services supporting biomedical research (ceiling $188,279, through February 2026).

Customer concentration is pronounced. The Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery leads by award count (83 awards, $2.9 million combined potential value), driven by recurring tuition delivery orders. VISN 12 ranks second (41 awards, $1.8 million combined potential value), anchored in animal research support. The National Institutes of Health stands third by grant count (67 awards) and accounts for the highest dollar value across the portfolio. Together, the top five customers account for 61% of awards and 96% of combined potential value.

The university acts as prime recipient on 94% of awards and as sub-recipient on federally funded research across prime grantees including New York University, Columbia University, The Ohio State University, Washington University, and others. Subaward work typically involves laboratory research contributions—electrophysiology, calcium imaging, behavioral neuroscience—as part of multi-institutional NIH-funded research teams.

Rosalind Franklin University's contract footprint centers on educational cost services and animal research logistics. Its grant footprint emphasizes neurobiology, with faculty investigators leading or co-investigating projects on calcium channel regulation, traumatic brain injury, alcohol-mediated neurotoxicity, Alzheimer's disease mechanisms, autism spectrum disorders, infectious disease immunology, and cancer metabolism. The university carries no federal contract IDVs of its own; it operates as an order recipient under Navy and VA indefinite vehicles.

Activity declined in 2025 and 2026 relative to 2024's 28 awards, dropping to 13 and 9 awards respectively. Fourteen awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and will require recompete action. The university's historical award portfolio dates to 1983, reflecting decades of continuity in Navy partnership and research funding streams.