Rationale and Objectives
This study aimed to characterize recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding
for diagnostic radiology departments at US medical schools.
Materials and Methods
This retrospective study did not use private identifiable information and thus did
not constitute human subjects research. The public NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting
Tools Expenditure and Results system was used to extract information regarding 887
NIH awards in 2015 to departments of “Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology.” Internet searches
were conducted to identify each primary investigator (PI)'s university web page, which
was used to identify the PI's departmental affiliation, gender, degree, and academic
rank. A total of 649 awards to diagnostic radiology departments, based on these web
searches, were included; awards to radiation oncology departments were excluded. Characteristics
were summarized descriptively.
Results
A total of 61 unique institutions received awards. The top five funded institutions
represented 33.6% of all funding. The most common institutes administering these awards
were the National Cancer Institute (29.0%) and the National Institute of Biomedical
Imaging and Bioengineering (21.6%). Women received 15.9% of awards and 13.3% of funding,
with average funding per award of $353,512 compared to $434,572 for men. PhDs received
77.7% of all awards, with average funding per award of $457,413 compared to $505,516
for MDs. Full professors received 51.2% of awards (average funding per award of $532,668),
compared to assistant professors who received 18.4% of awards ($260,177). Average
funding was $499,859 for multiple-PI awards vs. $397,932 for single-PI awards. Common
spending categories included “neurosciences,” “cancer,” “prevention,” and “aging.”
Conclusions
NIH funding for diagnostic radiology departments has largely been awarded to senior-ranking
male PhD investigators, commonly at large major academic medical centers. Initiatives
are warranted to address such disparities and promote greater diversity in NIH funding
among diagnostic radiology investigators.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 18, 2017
Accepted:
February 10,
2017
Received in revised form:
February 10,
2017
Received:
January 29,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
