TY - JOUR
T1 - The pediatric surgeon's road to research independence
T2 - Utility of mentor-based National Institutes of Health grants
AU - King, Alice
AU - Sharma-Crawford, Ian
AU - Shaaban, Aimen F.
AU - Inge, Thomas H.
AU - Crombleholme, Timothy M.
AU - Warner, Brad W.
AU - Lovvorn, Harold N.
AU - Keswani, Sundeep G.
N1 - Funding Information:
The current financial environment for academic surgeons requires extramural research funding. Traditionally, financial support from the NIH has been considered the benchmark measure of success for independent investigators. The NIH is composed of 27 institutes and centers, each with a defined research agenda, often focused on specific disease processes or body systems. The Research Project Grant Program (R01) is the original grant mechanism used by the NIH and the mechanism most commonly used to fund extramural researchers [6] . In academia, the R01 award is also regarded as a surrogate for research independence. Of concern, the growth in number of applications has outpaced the number awarded each year. This has resulted in a decreased application success rate, dropping from a peak success rate of 32% in the late 1990s to the current success rate of 18% [6] .
Funding Information:
Since 1988, there have been 171 NIH grants funded through a variety of different mechanisms. K08 grants comprised 16% (28/171), whereas 29% (50/171) were R01 grants and 14% (24/171) were awarded as small grant program (R03) or exploratory/developmental research grants (R21). Among the other grants, 5% (9/171) were awarded through the U-series and 4% (7/171) were awarded through the P-series mechanisms.
Funding Information:
In 2012, $7.2 million of grant support was funded by various NIH institutes and centers. The main institutes distributing funds were the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, 39.5%), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI, 32.5%), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID, 14.6%), and National Institute of General Medical Services (NIGMS, 11.7%) ( Fig. 2 ).
Funding Information:
There have been 28 K08 grants awarded, with nine active at the time of the data query. Although the K series was initiated in 1972 by the NIH, the first K08 award was granted to a pediatric surgeon in 1995. Of the recipients of expired K08 grants, 39% recipients have been subsequently awarded an R01 grant ( Fig. 3 ). A total of 63% of mentor-based K-awards transitioned to independent, non-mentor-based NIH award mechanisms, including R01 and U01 grants. Of the currently funded independent investigators, 44% of R01 awardees were previously funded through the K08 award.
Funding Information:
The importance of funding and support from institutions and extramural funding from foundations outside of the NIH will only increase as we see changes in the health-care system. The success rate for all research grants funded by the NIH has dropped drastically, from 32% a decade ago to the current rate of 18%. The rate has decreased as the number of research grant proposals continues to increase, with an 8% rise between 2011 and 2012 alone.
Funding Information:
Although the K-award provides a mechanism to encourage research success in young physicians, there are clearly different routes to obtain research independence, as demonstrated by the 56% of pediatric surgeon-scientists who currently have R01 funding without a prior K-award. This finding suggests that there are support mechanisms independent of the NIH-funded career development award. This support may include internal funding from institutions or other extramural career development awards provided through foundations such as the March of Dimes, American Heart Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. These foundation programs may provide the same support and structure to the early-career physician-scientist as the K-award funding mechanism of the NIH. Further study of R01 awardees will provide a better understanding of the resources needed to become an independent researcher.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Background: The current research environment for academic surgeons demands that extramural funding be obtained. Financial support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is historically the gold standard for funding in the biomedical research community, with the R01 funding mechanism viewed as indicator of research independence. The NIH also supports a mentor-based career development mechanism (K-series awards) in order to support early-stage investigators. The goal of this study was to investigate the grants successfully awarded to pediatric surgeon-scientists and then determine the success of the K-series award recipients at achieving research independence. Methods: In July 2012, all current members of the American Pediatric Surgery Association (APSA) were queried in the NIH database from 1988-2012 through the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools. The following factors were analyzed: type of grant, institution, amount of funding, and funding institute or center. Results: Among current APSA members, there have been 83 independent investigators receiving grants, representing 13% of the current APSA membership, with 171 independent grants funded through various mechanisms. Six percent currently have active NIH funding, with $7.2 million distributed in 2012. There have been 28 K-series grants awarded. Of the recipients of expired K08 awards, 39% recipients were subsequently awarded an R01 grant. A total of 63% of these K-awarded investigators transitioned to an independent NIH award mechanism. Conclusions: Pediatric surgeon-scientists successfully compete for NIH funding. Our data suggest that although the K-series funding mechanism is not the only path to research independence, over half of the pediatric surgeons who receive a K-award are successful in the transition to independent investigator.
AB - Background: The current research environment for academic surgeons demands that extramural funding be obtained. Financial support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is historically the gold standard for funding in the biomedical research community, with the R01 funding mechanism viewed as indicator of research independence. The NIH also supports a mentor-based career development mechanism (K-series awards) in order to support early-stage investigators. The goal of this study was to investigate the grants successfully awarded to pediatric surgeon-scientists and then determine the success of the K-series award recipients at achieving research independence. Methods: In July 2012, all current members of the American Pediatric Surgery Association (APSA) were queried in the NIH database from 1988-2012 through the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools. The following factors were analyzed: type of grant, institution, amount of funding, and funding institute or center. Results: Among current APSA members, there have been 83 independent investigators receiving grants, representing 13% of the current APSA membership, with 171 independent grants funded through various mechanisms. Six percent currently have active NIH funding, with $7.2 million distributed in 2012. There have been 28 K-series grants awarded. Of the recipients of expired K08 awards, 39% recipients were subsequently awarded an R01 grant. A total of 63% of these K-awarded investigators transitioned to an independent NIH award mechanism. Conclusions: Pediatric surgeon-scientists successfully compete for NIH funding. Our data suggest that although the K-series funding mechanism is not the only path to research independence, over half of the pediatric surgeons who receive a K-award are successful in the transition to independent investigator.
KW - Funding
KW - K-award
KW - NIH
KW - Pediatric surgery
KW - R-award
KW - Surgeon-scientist
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84884675253&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jss.2013.03.050
DO - 10.1016/j.jss.2013.03.050
M3 - Article
C2 - 23582227
AN - SCOPUS:84884675253
VL - 184
SP - 66
EP - 70
JO - Journal of Surgical Research
JF - Journal of Surgical Research
SN - 0022-4804
IS - 1
ER -