enhancing stewardship: new efforts to promote a stronger
TRANSCRIPT
EnhancingStewardship:NewEffortstoPromoteaStrongerandMoreStableBiomedicalResearch
Workforce
5thJointMeeting(4thCRAN)ofthe NationalAdvisoryCouncilonAlcoholAbuseandAlcoholism,NationalCancerAdvisoryBoard,andtheNationalAdvisoryCouncilonDrugAbuse
May3rd,2017
LawrenceA.Tabak,DDS,PhDPrincipalDeputyDirector,NIH
DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices1
NIHisentrustedtomaximizetheimpactoftheresearchdollars
thatweexpend
Wearealsocommittedtodevelopandsustainthemostqualifiedbiomedicalresearchworkforce
possible
3
Thelong-heldbuterroneousassumptionofnever-endingrapidgrowthinbiomedicalsciencehascreatedanunsustainablehypercompetitivesystemthatisdiscouragingeventhemostoutstandingstudentsfromenteringourprofession…Thisisarecipeforlong-termdecline...ItistimetoconfontthedangersathandandrethinksomefundamentalfeaturesoftheUSbiomedicalresearchsystem.
Alberts B et al. PNAS. 2014;111:5773-7
TheObservation
4OER SARB
TheObservation
5
OurprocessidentifiedtwocoreproblemsthattheUSbiomedicalresearchcommunityfaces:Toomanyresearchersvyingfortoofewdollars.Toomanypostdocscompetingfortoofewfaculty.
Kimbleetal.
AgeofInvestigatorsFundedbyNIH
6
%ofFun
dedInvestigators
YearOER SARB
Not solely due to Baby Boom demographics
Multiple analyses indicate established PIs are outcompeting other groups
SkewedDistributionofResources
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10%ofPIsgetover40%ofthefunding
OER SARB
Theconcentrationofresourcesamongourmostseniorinvestigatorschallengesourabilitytomaintaina
futurebiomedicalresearchworkforce
But,doesthisskeweddistributionofresourcesyieldoptimalproductivity?
– PublicationCounts:field-dependent,use-independent
– ImpactFactor:journal-levelnotarticle-level– CitationRates:field- andtime-dependent– h-index:field-dependentandtime-dependent– RelativeCitationRatio*:articlelevelandfieldindependent
*Hutchinsetal.,2016,PLOSBiology
Canbibliometricsbeusedtocomparetheinfluenceofpublicationsorproductivityofanaward?
Commonlyusedmeasures
Office of Portfolio Analysis
9
OERSARB 10
OERSARB 11
Well-fundedinvestigatorsareveryproductive,butwhenNIHisthinkingaboutawardingagrant,onaverage,willwegetagreaterreturnbyawardingafourthgranttosomeone,orbyawardingagranttoahighlypromisinginvestigatorwhowouldotherwisehavenoresources?
Incrementinproductivityisreducedasinvestigatorsreceivemoreresources
ESIswhoaresuccessfulatobtaininganNIHRPGarenomorelikelytocomefromwell-fundedlabs
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ESI a
war
dees
(men
tees
) pe
r men
tor
Mentor direct costs (in millions, binned)
ESIRPGawardeespermentor versustheFY16directcostsoftheirRPG-fundedmentors
Office of Portfolio Analysis
13
Impactwasgenerallyadeceleratingfunctionoffunding.Impactperdollarwasthereforelowerforlargegrant-holders.Further,theimpactofresearcherswhoreceivedincreasesinfundingdidnotpredictablyincrease.
Fortin and Currie. PLoS One. 2013;8(6):e65263
14
Weshowthatthreemeasuresofproductivity,thenumberofpublications,theimpactfactorofthejournalsinwhichpapersarepublishedandthenumberofcitations,areallpositivelycorrelatedtogroupsize,althoughtheyallshowapatternofdiminishingreturns—doublinggroupsizeleadstolessthanadoublinginproductivity.
PeerJ 3:e989; DOI 10.7717/peerj.989
HowdoweIncreasetheNumberofEarly-CareerFundedScientists?
HowdoweStabilizetheCareerTrajectoriesofScientists?
HowdoweMaximizetheImpactofNIHFunding?
15
ApproachestoConsider
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OurprocessidentifiedtwocoreproblemsthattheUSbiomedicalresearchcommunityfaces:Toomanyresearchersvyingfortoofewdollars.Toomanypostdocscompetingfortoofewfaculty.Ourrecommendationsaredesignedtoreversethesetrendsbyredistributingfundstosupportbothjuniorinvestigatorsandpioneeringprojects.Thatredistributionwillbepainful,especiallyforestablishedseniorinvestigators,butnecessarytosupportthenextgenerationandcuttingedgeresearch.
Kimbleetal.
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ApproachestoConsider
RequestforInformation(RFI):OptimizingFundingPoliciesandOtherStrategiestoImprovetheImpactandSustainabilityofBiomedicalResearch
NoticeNumber:NOT-OD-15-084
KeyDatesReleaseDate: April2,2015ResponseDate:May17,2015
CappingthenumberofNIHgrantsoramountoffundsaPIcanhavewereamongthemostcommonsuggestionsbybothindividualandinstitutionalrespondents.
ApproachestoConsider
18
ApproachestoConsider
19Alberts B et al. PNAS. 2014;111:5773-7
Agenciesshouldbesensitivetothetotalnumbersofdollarsgrantedtoindividuallaboratories…—althoughdifferentresearchactivitieshavedifferentcosts—atsomepoint,returnsperdollardiminish.
TheProposedPlan
§ NIHiscommittedtosupportinvestigatorsatallcareerstages§ Wewillcarefullytrackfundingpatternsofscientistsacrossallcareerstages
§ ICOswillcontinuetousecurrentapproachesto“bendthecurves”including:§ AdherencetotheESIpolicy
§ ExpansionofR01investigatorinitiatedresearchatthe“expense”ofInstitute-solicitedFOAs
§ EncouragingR56BridgeAwardsforESIstoincreaseR01resubmissionsuccessrates
§ TargetingR35awardforMid-career“EmergingInvestigators”
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TheProposedPlan(cont.)
§ NIHiscommittedtosupportinvestigatorsatallcareerstages§ Noneofthecurrentapproachesaddressesdirectlytheissueofdiminishingreturnsinthelabsofhighlyfundedinvestigators
§ MosthighlyfundedinvestigatorsaresupportedbytwoormoreICOs§ Therefore,wewillinstituteanewtrans-NIHpolicythatresetsexpectationsforthesupportprovidedtoanysingleinvestigator
§ Thiswillbeginwithapplicationsbeingsubmittedthisfall;applicationofthepolicywillbe“rolling”withsubmissionofanewapplicationoracompetitiverenewal
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TheGrantSupportIndex(GSI)
§ MeasureofPI’sgrantsupport
§ Effectively,amodifiedgrantcounttoestimatethe“bandwidth”ofprincipalinvestigators
§ Notsimplymeasureofdollars
§ Somescienceismoreexpensive
§ BenchmarkedtoR01(7points)
§ R03,R21less
§ R35,P50more
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TheGrantSupportIndex(GSI)(cont.)
SomeOutstandingIssues§ Howbestdoweaccountforcomplexclinicaltrialnetworks
andothercomplexinfrastructureprograms?
§ Howcanweaccountforteamscience?
§ Arespecialconsiderationsrequiredtoaccountfortheneedtoattracthighlytalentedinvestigatorsintonewfieldsofscience?
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We are seeking input to help us work through the implementation
TheProposedPlan(cont.)
§ Resettingexpectationsforthesupportprovidedtoanysingleinvestigator
§ MonitorlevelsofPI“bandwidth”usingtheGrantSupportIndex(GSI)
§ NIHwillautomaticallycalculateGSIforeveryPI
§ Workwiththeapplicanttolimitthe“bandwidth”ofanysinglePItoaGSIof21(roughly,equivalentto3RO1s)
§ ApplicantsthatdesignateinvestigatorsaboveaGSIof21willpresentaplanwithanyneworcompetingapplicationthatmitigatesanyincreasetosuchinvestigators’GSI
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TheProposedPlan(cont.)
§ Resettingexpectationsforthesupportprovidedtoanysingleinvestigator§ Arigorous“exceptions”processcanbeinitiatedbyICODirectors,thattakesintoaccount:
§ TheuniqueresearchrequirementsofanICO
§ ThesuccessoftheICOtosupportinvestigatorsatallcareerstages
§ Theneedtomaximizeproductivityofgrantresources
§ FinaldecisionswillbemadecentrallybytheNIHDirector’sOffice
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TheProposedPlan(cont.)
§ IfthemaximumGSIacrossallofNIHwas21andallmechanismswereincluded:§ Weestimatethat~6%ofinvestigatorswouldbeaffected
§ Thiswouldfreeupresourcestomake~1600newawardsoverthenextseveralyears
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AnanalogousprogramwillbeputintoplacefortheNIHIntramuralprogram
SummaryandImplementationConsiderations
§ NIHremainscommittedtoassuringtherobustnessandstabilityofthenextgenerationofbiomedicalscientists
§ Further,weremaincommittedtooptimizingtheuseofourresourcestoobtainthemaximumimpactpossible
§ Wewilluseavarietyofapproachesto“bendthecurves”includingresettingexpectationsonsupportprovidedtoanyoneinvestigator
§ Wewillmonitorandtrackallresourcesusedforthispurposetoidentifyandmitigateunintendedconsequences
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Acknowledgements
§ Dr.JamesAnderson– DPCPSI§ Dr.JodiBlack– OER§ Dr.JosephineBriggs– NCCIH§ Mr.JohnBurklow– OCPL§ Dr.NoniByrnes– CSR§ Ms.MeganColumbus– OER§ Dr.RobertFinkelstein– NINDS§ Dr.ValerieFlorance- NLM§ Ms.JillGeorge– OCPL§ Dr.PatriciaHaggerty– NIAID§ Ms.AdrienneHallett– OLPA§ Dr.RichardIkeda– OER§ Dr.StephenKatz– NIAMS§ Ms.RebeccaKolberg– OCPL§ Dr.MichaelLauer– OER
§ Dr.AvivaLitovitz – DPCPSI§ Dr.JonLorsch– NIGMS§ Dr.JohnJ.McGowan– NIAID§ Dr.AndrewMiklos– NIGMS§ Dr.LaurenMilner– IMOD§ Ms.JulieMuroff – OGC§ Ms.RenateMyles– OCPL§ Ms.KatrinaPearson-Robinson– OER§ Dr.RodericPettigrew– NIBIB§ Dr.Deepshikha Roychowdhury – OER§ Dr.GeorgeSantangelo – DPCPSI§ Dr.TaraSchwetz– IMOD§ Dr.BrentStanfield– NIDDK§ Dr.NeilThakur– OER§ Dr.CarrieWolinetz– OSP
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