Research article summary (published 31 Aug 2009):

Life-science research within US academic medical centers.

Full Abstract

CONTEXT: Besides the generic "basic" vs "applied" labels, little information is known about the types of life-science research conducted within academic medical centers (AMCs). OBJECTIVE: To determine the relative proportion, characteristics, funding, and productivity of AMC faculty by the type of research they conduct. DESIGN: Mailed survey conducted in 2007 of 3080 life-science faculty at the 50 universities with medical schools that received the most funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2004. Response rate was 74%. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Research faculty affiliated with a medical school or teaching hospital, representing 77% of respondents (n = 1663). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Type of research (basic, translational, clinical trials, health services research/clinical epidemiology, multimode, other), total funding, industry funding, publications, professional activities, patenting behavior, and industry relationships. RESULTS: Among AMC research faculty, 33.6% exclusively conducted basic science research as principal investigators compared with translational researchers (9.1%), clinical trial investigators (7.1%), and health services researchers/clinical epidemiologists (9.0%). While principal investigators garnered a mean of $410,755 in total annual research funding, 22.1% of all AMC research faculty were unsponsored, a proportion that ranged from 11.5% for basic science researchers to 46.8% for health services researchers (P < .001). The average AMC faculty member received $33,417 in industry-sponsored funding, with most of this money concentrated among clinical trial ($110,869) and multimode ($59,916) principal investigators. Translational (61.3%), clinical trial (67.3%), and multimode (70.9%) researchers were significantly more likely than basic science researchers (41.9%) to report a relationship with industry and that these relationships contributed to their most important scientific work (P < .05 for all comparisons). CONCLUSION: The research function of AMCs is active and diverse, incorporating a substantial proportion of faculty who are conducting research and publishing without sponsorship.

Author information

Author/s: Zinner, Darren E (DE); Campbell, Eric G (EG);

Affiliation: Schneider Institutes for Health Policy, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, 415 South St, MS 035, Waltham, MA 02454, USA. dzinner(-atsign-)brandeis.edu

Grants: 1R01GM074915-01 (Agency:NIGMS NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 302 (issue 9) : pp 969-76

Dates: Created 2009/09/02; Completed 2009/09/04;

PMID: 19724044, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 9/4/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: JAMA. 2009 Sep 2;302(9):1001-2. (PMID: 19724050)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

Academic Medical Centers - economics; statistics & numerical data; trends Biological Science Disciplines Biomedical Research - economics; trends Clinical Medicine - trends Data Collection Diffusion of Innovation Faculty, Medical Financing, Government - legislation & jurisprudence Health Services Research

Health Services Research Humans Industry Interdisciplinary Communication National Institutes of Health (U.S.) - economics Publishing Research - economics; statistics & numerical data; trends Research Support as Topic United States

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

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