Pediatr Radiol (2014) 44:1339–1341 DOI 10.1007/s00247-014-3054-5
RESEARCH FORUM
Funding resources for junior radiology clinical scientists: where to look? Rathan M. Subramaniam
Received: 6 March 2014 / Accepted: 12 May 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Keywords Pediatric radiology . Research funding . Young investigators
Currently available research funding Government funding
Introduction Research funding is necessary to advance major imaging and biomedical research. Obtaining peer review external funding and publications are considered essential achievements for successful clinician-scientist careers. There are numerous funding opportunities for human biological research and this article briefly summarizes the funding sources available for radiologists in the United States. This is not an exclusive list but merely the major funding sources to consider when a clinician-scientist radiologist considers applying for research or training grants.
R. M. Subramaniam (*) Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 601 N. Caroline St., JHOC 3235, 21287 Baltimore, MD, USA e-mail: [email protected] R. M. Subramaniam Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA R. M. Subramaniam Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA R. M. Subramaniam Department of Health Policy and Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
The federal government is the single largest source of biomedical research funding in the United States. At the 20 most research-intensive medical schools, an average of 80% to 85% of total research revenues, and about one-third of all revenues, come from federal research grants [1]. National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation and the Veteran Affairs Health System are major sources of funding for clinical and human biological research. We will focus on National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense grants. (a) National Institutes of Health National Institutes of Health uses activity codes such as RO1, R21, RO3, etc., to differentiate among the wide variety of research-related programs it supports. The funding includes research grants (R series), career development awards (K series), research training and fellowship grants (T and F series) and program project or center grants (P series) [2] and other types of grants. National Institutes of Health institutes and centers vary in the way they use the activity codes. Not all institutes and centers accept all programs and some may apply specialized criteria. Each type of National Institutes of Health grant program has its own set of eligibility requirements. Applicants can find eligibility information in section III of each funding opportunity announcement. While the principal investigator conceives and writes the application, National Institutes of Health recognizes the applicant institution as the grantee for most grant types and the institutions submit these grants to National Institutes of Health. Due to
1340
declining funding, National Institutes of Health grants are extremely competitive and months of planning, writing and gathering preliminary data are generally required. (b) Department of Defense The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program provides support for research grants, training (postdoctoral fellowships) grants and career development awards. The research grants usually focus on certain disease/processes such as cancer, spinal cord injury and autism. These grants are awarded to both foreign and U.S. institutions [3].
Pediatr Radiol (2014) 44:1339–1341
accountability [6]. Both RSNA and ARRS partner with other radiological societies such as American Society of Neuroradiology and Association of University Radiologists to offer joint research and educational grants. The Association of University Radiologists (AUR) partners with General Electric and offers the AUR GE Radiology Research and Academic fellowship (GERRAF), which is a mentored career development award and is highly sought after by junior faculty and future leaders of radiology [7]. For research projects related to pediatric imaging, the Research and Education Foundation (REF) of the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) currently offers three main research funds: 1) seed grant award, 2) research fellow award and 3) pilot award [8].
Private funding (a) Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute is an independent, nongovernmental, nonprofit organization. Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute is authorized by the U.S. Congress to conduct research to provide information about the best available evidence to help patients and their health care providers make more informed decisions [4]. Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute has five priorities for funding – assessment of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options; improving health care systems; communication and dissemination; addressing disparities, and accelerating patientcentered and methodological research. Grants are awarded through Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute Funding Announcements with four funding cycles per year. Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute also issues targeted funding announcements seeking proposals to study specific high-priority topics, offers special onetime funding opportunities, funds a series of pilot projects to study methods for engaging stakeholders in research and funds contract research through Requests for Proposals (RFPs). It has funded 279 awards totalling more than $464 million.
(c) Foundations There are numerous foundations and institutes, which are associated with companies, disease specific advocacy groups and families, that award research grants. For example, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), founded in 1953, is one of the largest private funding organizations/foundations in the United States for biomedical research. In 2013, HHMI provided more than $800 million in grants [9]. There are foundations that focus more specifically on children, such as the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation [10], and provide research grants. (d) Industry Imaging involves developing and testing advanced technologies for clinical practice. For this reason, many companies such as General Electric, Siemens and Phillips, which develop advanced imaging equipment and computer software for analysis, fund research through partnership institutional agreements. In addition, there are also opportunities to participate in therapeutic clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry, which uses imaging in their therapeutic trials.
(b) Radiological associations Many North American radiological associations provide grant funding for imaging projects, career development awards, educational grants and grants for projects or courses related to ethics and professionalism. The major associations include Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), American Rontgen Ray Society (ARRS), Association of University Radiologists and American Society of Neuro radiology. RSNA provides annual research seed grants to resident and fellow grants and faculty career development awards, such as research scholar or educational scholar grants [5]. ARRS provides grants for investigators, educators and administrators. ARRS also provides grants to pursue study and research related to medical ethics, medico legal principles and patient
Unfunded research Significant imaging research, especially clinical research, is carried out without any formal funding at academic centres using the discretionary time from clinical services, academic time and clinical practice observations. This is particularly true for young investigators in establishing the early results to apply for grant funding and a track record of academic accomplishments. This group of investigators can account up to 30% of all investigators [11]. Clinical investigators are more likely to be unfunded than basic or basic/clinical investigators. These unfunded research projects have allowed us to
Pediatr Radiol (2014) 44:1339–1341
understand biological processes, diagnoses and treatments for various disease processes.
Conclusion It is important to begin and execute research projects with whatever resources, wherever you are, and become productive in publishing early for a successful clinicianscientist career.
Conflicts of interest None
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References 1. Campbell EG (2009) The future of research funding in academic medicine. N Engl J Med 360:1482–1483 2. grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/funding_program.htm. Accessed 1 March 2014 3. cdmrp.army.mil/funding/default.shtml. Accessed 1 March 2014 4. www.pcori.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 5. www.rsna.org/Grants_and_Awards.aspx. Accessed 1 March 2014 6. www.arrs.org/RoentgenFund/Scholarships/. Accessed 1 March 2014 7. www.aur.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 8. www.pedrad.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 9. www.hhmi.org. Accessed 1 March 2014 10. www.pcrf-kids.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 11. Mai TV, Agan DL, Clopton P et al (2013) The magnitude and nature of unfunded published cardiovascular research. J Am Coll Cardiol 61:275–281
RESEARCH FORUM
Funding resources for junior radiology clinical scientists: where to look? Rathan M. Subramaniam
Received: 6 March 2014 / Accepted: 12 May 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Keywords Pediatric radiology . Research funding . Young investigators
Currently available research funding Government funding
Introduction Research funding is necessary to advance major imaging and biomedical research. Obtaining peer review external funding and publications are considered essential achievements for successful clinician-scientist careers. There are numerous funding opportunities for human biological research and this article briefly summarizes the funding sources available for radiologists in the United States. This is not an exclusive list but merely the major funding sources to consider when a clinician-scientist radiologist considers applying for research or training grants.
R. M. Subramaniam (*) Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 601 N. Caroline St., JHOC 3235, 21287 Baltimore, MD, USA e-mail: [email protected] R. M. Subramaniam Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA R. M. Subramaniam Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA R. M. Subramaniam Department of Health Policy and Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
The federal government is the single largest source of biomedical research funding in the United States. At the 20 most research-intensive medical schools, an average of 80% to 85% of total research revenues, and about one-third of all revenues, come from federal research grants [1]. National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation and the Veteran Affairs Health System are major sources of funding for clinical and human biological research. We will focus on National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense grants. (a) National Institutes of Health National Institutes of Health uses activity codes such as RO1, R21, RO3, etc., to differentiate among the wide variety of research-related programs it supports. The funding includes research grants (R series), career development awards (K series), research training and fellowship grants (T and F series) and program project or center grants (P series) [2] and other types of grants. National Institutes of Health institutes and centers vary in the way they use the activity codes. Not all institutes and centers accept all programs and some may apply specialized criteria. Each type of National Institutes of Health grant program has its own set of eligibility requirements. Applicants can find eligibility information in section III of each funding opportunity announcement. While the principal investigator conceives and writes the application, National Institutes of Health recognizes the applicant institution as the grantee for most grant types and the institutions submit these grants to National Institutes of Health. Due to
1340
declining funding, National Institutes of Health grants are extremely competitive and months of planning, writing and gathering preliminary data are generally required. (b) Department of Defense The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program provides support for research grants, training (postdoctoral fellowships) grants and career development awards. The research grants usually focus on certain disease/processes such as cancer, spinal cord injury and autism. These grants are awarded to both foreign and U.S. institutions [3].
Pediatr Radiol (2014) 44:1339–1341
accountability [6]. Both RSNA and ARRS partner with other radiological societies such as American Society of Neuroradiology and Association of University Radiologists to offer joint research and educational grants. The Association of University Radiologists (AUR) partners with General Electric and offers the AUR GE Radiology Research and Academic fellowship (GERRAF), which is a mentored career development award and is highly sought after by junior faculty and future leaders of radiology [7]. For research projects related to pediatric imaging, the Research and Education Foundation (REF) of the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) currently offers three main research funds: 1) seed grant award, 2) research fellow award and 3) pilot award [8].
Private funding (a) Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute is an independent, nongovernmental, nonprofit organization. Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute is authorized by the U.S. Congress to conduct research to provide information about the best available evidence to help patients and their health care providers make more informed decisions [4]. Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute has five priorities for funding – assessment of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options; improving health care systems; communication and dissemination; addressing disparities, and accelerating patientcentered and methodological research. Grants are awarded through Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute Funding Announcements with four funding cycles per year. Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute also issues targeted funding announcements seeking proposals to study specific high-priority topics, offers special onetime funding opportunities, funds a series of pilot projects to study methods for engaging stakeholders in research and funds contract research through Requests for Proposals (RFPs). It has funded 279 awards totalling more than $464 million.
(c) Foundations There are numerous foundations and institutes, which are associated with companies, disease specific advocacy groups and families, that award research grants. For example, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), founded in 1953, is one of the largest private funding organizations/foundations in the United States for biomedical research. In 2013, HHMI provided more than $800 million in grants [9]. There are foundations that focus more specifically on children, such as the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation [10], and provide research grants. (d) Industry Imaging involves developing and testing advanced technologies for clinical practice. For this reason, many companies such as General Electric, Siemens and Phillips, which develop advanced imaging equipment and computer software for analysis, fund research through partnership institutional agreements. In addition, there are also opportunities to participate in therapeutic clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry, which uses imaging in their therapeutic trials.
(b) Radiological associations Many North American radiological associations provide grant funding for imaging projects, career development awards, educational grants and grants for projects or courses related to ethics and professionalism. The major associations include Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), American Rontgen Ray Society (ARRS), Association of University Radiologists and American Society of Neuro radiology. RSNA provides annual research seed grants to resident and fellow grants and faculty career development awards, such as research scholar or educational scholar grants [5]. ARRS provides grants for investigators, educators and administrators. ARRS also provides grants to pursue study and research related to medical ethics, medico legal principles and patient
Unfunded research Significant imaging research, especially clinical research, is carried out without any formal funding at academic centres using the discretionary time from clinical services, academic time and clinical practice observations. This is particularly true for young investigators in establishing the early results to apply for grant funding and a track record of academic accomplishments. This group of investigators can account up to 30% of all investigators [11]. Clinical investigators are more likely to be unfunded than basic or basic/clinical investigators. These unfunded research projects have allowed us to
Pediatr Radiol (2014) 44:1339–1341
understand biological processes, diagnoses and treatments for various disease processes.
Conclusion It is important to begin and execute research projects with whatever resources, wherever you are, and become productive in publishing early for a successful clinicianscientist career.
Conflicts of interest None
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References 1. Campbell EG (2009) The future of research funding in academic medicine. N Engl J Med 360:1482–1483 2. grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/funding_program.htm. Accessed 1 March 2014 3. cdmrp.army.mil/funding/default.shtml. Accessed 1 March 2014 4. www.pcori.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 5. www.rsna.org/Grants_and_Awards.aspx. Accessed 1 March 2014 6. www.arrs.org/RoentgenFund/Scholarships/. Accessed 1 March 2014 7. www.aur.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 8. www.pedrad.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 9. www.hhmi.org. Accessed 1 March 2014 10. www.pcrf-kids.org/. Accessed 1 March 2014 11. Mai TV, Agan DL, Clopton P et al (2013) The magnitude and nature of unfunded published cardiovascular research. J Am Coll Cardiol 61:275–281
