Scholarly investigation into otitis media: who is receiving funding support from the National Institutes of Health?

Abstract

The NIH provided considerable grant support for researchers studying OM as awards to practitioners in numerous specialties exceeded a quarter of a billion dollars since 2000. Although awards to otolaryngologists were significant, the share of grants awarded to otolaryngologists has declined, suggesting that increased recruitment of basic scientists and enhanced cooperation with other specialists may facilitate further scholarship. These findings suggest a need for improving initiatives that prepare otolaryngology trainees interested in translational OM research for the rigorous NIH peer-review grant process.

Recent trends in oropharyngeal cancer funding and public interest

“…). Similar findings have previously been noted upon evaluation of funding patterns for other interdisciplinary entities relevant to otolaryngologists . This suggests that enhanced interdisciplinary cooperation and increased recruitment of basic scientists are a potential means to increase scholarly impact within otolaryngology departments.…”

“…Because Google Trends has demonstrated its unique value in numerous analyses examining search volumes trends, we felt it was the most appropriate and accessible tool for use in this analysis . Additional limitations are those inherent to the NIH RePORTER database, which has been integral to numerous prior analyses looking at funding patterns, including the subjective nature of our inclusion criteria. The present search strategy is transparent, and numerous studies have focused on oncogenic pathways common to multiple cancers (including OPC) that were included.…”

National Institutes of Health Funding for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

“…Research by academic otolaryngologists has documented the rapid evolution of this subspecialty including new paradigms, 8,9 novel techniques, 10,11 and a significant increase in sleep surgery being performed nationwide. 12 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world's largest funding source for biomedical research, [13][14][15] and numerous studies demonstrate its impact of meaningful translational work. [16][17][18] At present, however, there are no studies examining NIH research funding of OSA.…”

NIH Funding within Otolaryngology: 2005‐2014

“…While otolaryngologists participate in the translation of basic research into clinical practice, they often receive less total funding as well as less proportional funding of disease processes studied compared with clinicians in other larger specialties and/or PhD faculty. 2-4…”