ST John's University, New York

ST John's University, New York, a private Catholic higher education institution headquartered in Jamaica, Queens, operates as a federal grant recipient in biomedical research, education, and student support services. The university's federal footprint spans 209 awards (180 prime, 29 sub) across 50 customer agencies, with performance concentrated at its main campus and subordinate research laboratories.

ST John's derives its federal revenue overwhelmingly from research and education grants rather than contracts. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) leads customer concentration by award count with 28 grants, followed closely by the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (24 grants), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (22 awards), the Department of the Army (22 awards), and the National Science Foundation (14 grants), collectively accounting for 53 percent of recent awards. Recent activity shows volatility—21 awards in 2022 declining to 7 in 2024, then recovering to 12 in 2025 and 8 in 2026 through August. Nineteen awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months.

The university's capability portfolio centers on NIH-funded biomedical and pharmaceutical research. Representative recent work includes a $150,000 NIGMS grant (awarded August 1, 2026) to discover and develop novel pentacyclic indolocyclopentaphthalazinone PARP1 inhibitors for cancer treatment, building on published discovery of lead compound 5 with single-digit nanomolar potency against PARP1 and greater than 25-fold selectivity over PARP2; a $187,500 NIAID grant (August 1, 2026) to develop biocontained whole-cell bacterial biosensors for detecting dysbiosis and inflammation biomarkers in saliva; a $562,500 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant (July 15, 2026) for RESPOND, a hybrid neuro-symbolic AI system to identify FDA-approved drugs suitable for repurposing as treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; and a $562,500 NIGMS grant (July 1, 2026) investigating molecular mechanisms of proton conductance and gating in OTOP proton channels. The university also received a $249,574 NIGMS S10 instrument award (July 1, 2026) to acquire a Shimadzu LCMS-8045RX triple quadrupole liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system supporting pharmaceutical and biomedical research in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, which operates a graduate program with over 80 students.

Beyond biomedical research, ST John's administers NSF-funded science education and translation programs including a $859,537 NSF CAREER award (September 1, 2025) studying the evolutionary origins of aposematism in dendrobatid poison frogs; a $550,000 NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program grant (September 1, 2024) developing an AI solution for accurate medical coding to improve healthcare billing; and multiple I-Corps projects exploring commercial translation of waterless personal care tablets and AI-driven tutoring systems. The university also holds a $272,364 Department of Education TRIO Student Support Services grant (September 1, 2025) providing comprehensive supportive services for disadvantaged students, and administers Upward Bound and McNair Scholars programs supporting undergraduate research and postsecondary access.

ST John's subcontracts under federally funded research primes, including work with Northwestern University on defining the female pragmatic language profile of autism (multiple sub-awards as of October 2025), the University of Maryland, Baltimore on polycystic kidney disease research, the Ohio State University on MG53-GSDMD protein interactions, and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on a deprescribing intervention for frail patients in the World Trade Center Health Program. The university also received sub-awards from New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services for COVID-19 diagnostic testing and personal protective equipment during the pandemic (closed projects).

A single Army contract appears in recent activity: a $78,009.45 purchase order from U.S. Army Materiel Command (awarded June 10, 2026) for non-personal services supporting a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps STEM Camp, providing training, lodging, meals, and STEM instruction for 100 JROTC cadets and 15 cadre at the Jamaica campus June 25–30, 2026, under Service Contract Act prevailing wage terms.

The university's award portfolio reflects its institutional mission as a research and teaching university; activity concentrates on NIH-funded life sciences research with embedded workforce-development components, federal student support services, and NSF innovation-to-market programs. No named parent vehicles (GWACs, BPAs, agency-wide IDIQs) anchor the footprint; Army awards reference basic ordering agreements and indefinite delivery contracts at low volume. The recompete cliff of 19 awards expiring within twenty-four months represents potential continuation funding for ongoing research programs and education initiatives.