The Next Generation of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Researchers Breaking Through (2018) / Chapter Skim
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2 The Landscape for the Next Generation of Researchers
2 The Landscape for the Next Generation of Researchers
Pages 19-48
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From page 19... ...
In this chapter, the committee describes the promise, opportunities, and challenges of the current landscape for the next generation of researchers as they pursue a path to independence. The discussion is divided into the several phases of that path -- commencing with doctoral and medical training; the move for many to postdoctoral experiences; the transition to independent research oppor tunities in academic and non-academic domains; and the pursuit of funding and other challenges that investigators face as they seek to establish a sustainable and fruitful career.
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In 2016, approximately 19,000 people in the United States received a medical degree, with 46 percent women and 10 percent from underrepresented minority groups.5 Of those who graduated with a medical degree in the United States in 2016, 602 graduated with an M.D.-Ph.D., and, of those, 38 percent were female6 and 5 percent were from underrepresented minority groups.7 The nature of doctoral training in the United States is outside the scope of this report, but is the topic of another National Academies study.8 However, a few observations about doctoral training periods are relevant to the mandate of this committee. First, the median time from matriculation to a Ph.D.
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THE POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE The postdoctoral experience is a temporary period of training following the award of a doctoral or medical degree to gain additional scientific, technical, and professional skills that advance the careers of Ph.D.'s, M.D.'s, and M.D.-Ph.D.'s. As discussed in the 2014 National Academies of Sciences report, The Post doctoral Experience Revisited, the National Science Foundation (NSF)
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Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, Table 43: Female postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field, citizenship, ethnicity, and race: 2015. https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/datatables/gradpostdoc/2015/html/ GSS2015_DST_43.html (accessed January 23, 2018)
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research careers to international scholars. It is also the case that some countries encourage recent Ph.D.'s to seek postdoctoral training in the United States.12 In the extramurally funded biomedical sciences, postdoctoral researchers at U.S.
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citizens or nationals or lawful permanent residents are eligible for NIH-funded fellowships or training grants, postdoctoral researchers from other countries are significantly less likely to receive mandated training and professional development. The fastest growing and second most prevalent source of postdoctoral support at degree-granting institutions is non-federal organizations, such as philanthropies, research centers, universities, the private sector, and professional societies.18 The Health Research Alliance, a national consortium of more than 70 non overnmental, g nonprofit funders of biomedical research and training, provided $866 million in research awards in 2012.19 Of that amount, 44 percent was for early-career development and training, including programs such as the American Cancer Society's Postdoctoral Fellowship Award and the Damon unyon Cancer Research Founda R tion's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
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. In a separate study, only 4 percent of biological and life sciences postdoctoral researchers reported feeling a "severe lack of information" regarding research careers in academia, but that number increased to 21 percent in government, 34 percent in established companies, and 42 percent in start-ups (Sauermann and Roach, 2016)
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For postdoctoral researchers supported on NRSA awards, NIH requires institutions to offer preparation for research-related and research intensive careers in various sectors, such as academic institutions, government agencies, for-profit businesses, and private foundations.21 In 2013, NIH launched the Strengthening the Biomedical Research Workforce program through the NIH Common Fund as one component of a trans-NIH strategy to enhance training opportunities for early-career scientists to prepare them for a variety of research-related career options.22 A core component of this program is the NIH Director's Biomedical Research Workforce Innovation Awards to enhance biomedical research training, more commonly called the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) awards.23 These 5-year awards are intended to support innovation in both graduate student and postdoctoral researcher training.
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At the core of concerns about the postdoctoral research experience is whether it provides value to postdoctoral researchers and prepares them for a variety of research careers outside of academia, and whether it proportionately and adequately supports diverse populations. Without comprehensive and longitudinal data on the postdoctoral population, however, it is difficult to develop evidence-based recommendations for improving the quality of the postdoctoral experience and recruiting an appropriate number of promising scientists from diverse populations into the biomedical research enterprise.
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degree attainment held academic tenure-track or tenured positions in 2013, compared to 29 percent in 1993.26 An analysis from the AAMC supports a similar trend at medical colleges, where 73 percent of full-time basic science Ph.D. faculty were on tenure-eligible tracks in 2014, compared to 82 percent in 1984.27 As the percentage of biomedical Ph.D.'s in tenure-track or tenured faculty positions has declined, their representation has notably increased in two other sectors: academic non-tenure track positions and non-academic non-research positions.
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The combination of training and experience allows the physician-scientist to contribute a unique perspective and affords them the opportunity to translate clinical observations to the laboratory to help identify the mechanisms of disease, as well as to apply the findings of basic science to patient care. Physician-scientists also face challenges early in their research careers, including a lack of protected research time, loan repayment obligations, prolonged training, and a need for additional mentoring (National Institutes of Health, 2014)
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A robust staff scientist path can offer investigators the promise of a sustainable academic research career outside of the traditional research faculty route, potentially easing the logjam of trainees waiting for such opportunities in postdoctoral positions. Written input from several professional societies, testimony to the committee, and statements from prominent 29 See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26625903 (accessed March 6, 2018)
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, education, mentoring, and coaching to promote the cutting edge of biomedical science. One analysis of focus group responses suggests that personal values, combined with frustrations about long training periods, low postdoctoral researcher salaries, tight grant funding, and a highly competitive job market, have diminished biomedical scientists' interest in faculty research careers and has guided them toward non-academic careers (Gibbs and Griffin, 2013)
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, and the success rate for type 1 competing R01-equivalent awards peaked at approximately 26 percent in 2000. However, the percentage of research awards to new investigators dropped steadily during those years, and, according to the 2005 National Academies Bridges to Independence report, it appears that "those with existing funding and established research programs received increased funding, in part to hire additional postdoctoral and graduate student researchers and further exacerbate the imbalance between trained researchers and available positions" (National Research Council, 2005, p.
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FIGURE 2-4 Success rates for competing type 1 R01 success rates for new and established investigators. SOURCE: https://report.nih.gov/NIHDatabook/Charts/Default.aspx?
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who has completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award."40 This new policy benefits both new investigators and ESIs by requiring peer reviewers to focus more on the proposed approach in grant applications than on an investigator's track record, and to expect less preliminary data than would be provided by established investigators.41 NIH Insti utes routinely fund ESI applications that score outside of the normal funding t range by maintaining a separate payline for competing, investigator-initiated ESI R01 applications.42 For example, in FY2017, the payline for ESI applications to 36 NIH Data Book. Research and Training Grants: Competing Applications by Mechanism and Selected Activity Codes.
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https://report.nih.gov/NIHDatabook/Charts/Default.aspx? showm=Y&chartId=164&catId=13 (accessed January 19, 2018)
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Although NIH's new investigator policy leveled success rates between new and established investigators and temporarily boosted the number of new investigators receiving R01-equivalent awards, the average age of first receipt of an R01-equivalent award rose from 39.3 in 1990 to 44.2 in 2016.46 This increase applies across Ph.D.'s (from 38.9 to 43.3) , M.D.'s (from 39.9 to 46.5)
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Data provided courtesy of NIH.
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second R01. SOURCE: Data provided courtesy of NIH.
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Although R21 awards are not specifically designed to support ESIs, data provided by NIH highlights the fact that the R01 is increasingly giving way to the R21 and other awards as the research grant that starts investiga 52 See https://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/gbipriceindexes.html (accessed January 19, 2018)
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. Each year, roughly the same number of investigators now apply for an R21 and an R01 as their first grant.53 These trends are observed across all age cohorts.54 R21 awards may be regarded as an opportunity to secure initial funding for an emerging investigator's independent research career, but analysis of R21 awardees shows that receipt of the award does not increase the success rate for receiving an R01-equivalent award.55 Not all individual NIH Institutes offer R21 awards, and data provided by NIH show that applications for R21 awards have increased to the point where success rates for receiving the award are now lower than for R01-equivalent awards, at 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively, in 2016.56 In addition, R21 awards provide less funding over a shorter time period compared to R01-equivalent awards, and thus are less ideal for establishing an independent research career.
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. help outstanding postdoctoral researchers with a research and/or clinical doc torate degree complete needed, mentored career development and transition in a timely manner to independent, tenure-track, or equivalent faculty positions.
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. Together, these programs fund only 100 or so awards per year.62 The number of federal research awards to help investigators transition into independent faculty research positions is limited, and postdoctoral researchers are typically not prepared or, often even eligible,63 to submit an R01 application prior to obtaining a faculty appointment.
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65 The figure shows data for PIs who received an NIH RPG. Data provided courtesy of NIH also suggest a similar trend for investigators who never obtained an RPG.
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Of special concern for the biomedical research enterprise are the enduring barriers to independent faculty research careers faced by women and indi viduals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. As of 2016, women had equivalent NIH RPG success rates and representation in NIH research career development awards as their male counterparts,66 yet the average total research grant size for men was nearly $75,000 more than for women.67 Additionally, faculty positions are often required for eligibility to apply for an NIH grant, but between 2011 and 2012, women represented only 30 percent of biomedical faculty at the assistant, associate, and full professor levels (Valantine et 66 Research Career Development Award Recipients and Kirschstein-NRSA Trainees and Fellows: Representation of Women, by Activity and Career Stage.
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(2018) examining underrepresented minority research faculty participation at medical schools reveals significant retention ssues between their postdoctoral experiences and faculty research i positions.
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2016. Modeling the annual number of new and competing NIH research project grants.
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2014a. The postdoctoral experience revisited.
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