NIH Funding within Otolaryngology: 2005‐2014

Abstract

Objective Analyze grants awarded between 2005 and 2014 to otolaryngology departments that appear in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) RePORTER database, summarize characteristics of grant recipients associated with otolaryngology departments as listed in the RePORTER between 2005 and 2014, and identify trends in otolaryngology NIH funding between 2005 and 2014 by topic. Study Design Case series. Setting NIH database inquiry. Subjects Grant recipients. Methods The RePORTER was queried for all grants awarded to otolaryngology departments between 2005 and 2014. All grants classified as new, renewal, or revision were included while duplicates were excluded. Results In total, 475 grants to 51 institutions were categorized by topic and subtopic. Internet searches were conducted for characteristics of 352 principal investigators. Sixty-seven percent of awardees had a PhD, 22% had an MD, and 11% had an MD/PhD. Sex ratios varied by degrees held. Although 31% of all grant recipients were women, this ratio was not seen when recipients were classified by degree type, with 78% of women holding a PhD compared with 55% of men ( P = .0013). Of the award types, 39% were R01s, 15% were R21s, and 10% were R03s. The top 3 represented topics were otology/neurotology (52%), audiology (25%), and head and neck surgery (14%). The mean annual award amount, after adjusting for inflation to 2014 dollars, was $226,495.76, with 72.8% awarded by the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders. Twenty percent of awardees received multiple grants. Conclusion NIH funding in otolaryngology tends to be awarded to those with PhDs studying the hearing sciences, with 1 in 5 having multiple awards. As in other areas of NIH funding, women are underrepresented overall.

Women in Otolaryngology: Experiences of Being Female in the Specialty

“…4 In 2017, the Society for University Otolaryngologists listed only 26 female program directors at the 107 academic otolaryngology departments, though a report in 2012 determined that women were proportionally represented in subspecialty societies and leadership positions when controlling for age. 5 Within otolaryngology, women are underrepresented in compensation, 6 NIH funding, 7 financial relationships with industry, 8 on otolaryngology journal editorial boards, 9 and in research productivity, 10 though a promising study from 2019 reports the gender gap in research may be closing. 11 In addition to professional pressures, physicians struggle to balance satisfaction in their personal lives.…”

An Analysis of Otolaryngology’s NIH Research Funding Compared to Other Specialties

“…Such reasons include an increase in competition for funding, increased research costs, and a decrease in the proportion of surgeons applying for NIH grants in comparison to non-surgical specialists. 11,12 This trend has, in part, been attributed to expansions in the medical specialties and a multifactorial increase in clinical demands for surgical scientists. 12 The h-index is an a commonly accepted objective measure of a researcher's academic scholarship that considers the number of times an author has published as well as the frequency at which his or her work is cited by others.…”

Gender Differences in Academic Rank and NIH Funding among Academic Maternal–Fetal Medicine Physicians in the United States

“…8,11,12,17 Receipt of NIH funding and total amount awarded was determined from the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool regardless of whether the individual was the primary investigator or coinvestigator (https://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm). 11,18,19 Data were summarized by academic rank and any NIH funding. Categorical variables were compared with the chisquare test of independence or the Fisher's exact test where expected cell sizes were < 5.…”