Hegde Vishal, Johansen Daniel, Park Howard Y, Zoller Stephen D, Hamad Christopher, Bernthal Nicholas M
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Santa Monica, California.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2017 Aug 16;99(16):e87. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.16.01278.
The Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) is the leading specialty-specific nongovernmental organization providing orthopaedic funding in the United States. As extramural research funding has become increasingly difficult to acquire, one mission of the OREF is to support investigators to generate data needed to secure larger extramural funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The objectives of this study were to evaluate the rate of translating OREF faculty-level grants into subsequent NIH funding and to determine if there are identifiable factors that increase the rate of converting an OREF grant into NIH funding.
This is a retrospective review of OREF grants awarded to full-time faculty orthopaedic surgeons between 1994 and 2014. Grants were analyzed on the basis of award type and were categorized as basic science, clinical, or epidemiological. Sex, individual scholarly productivity, and publication experience were evaluated. All awardees were assessed for subsequent NIH funding using the NIH RePORTER web site.
One hundred and twenty-six faculty-level OREF grants were awarded to 121 individuals. Twenty-seven OREF grant awardees (22%) received NIH funding at a mean of 6.3 years after OREF funding. Nineteen (46%) of 41 Career Development Grant winners later received NIH funding compared with 10 (12%) of 85 other award winners. OREF grants for basic science projects were awarded more often (58%) and were more than 4 times as likely to result in NIH funding than non-basic science projects (odds ratio, 4.70 [95% confidence interval, 1.66 to 13.33]; p = 0.0036). Faculty who later received NIH funding had higher scholarly productivity and publication experience (p < 0.05).
The OREF grant awardee conversion rate of 22% and, particularly, the 46% for Career Development Grant winners compares favorably with the overall NIH funding success rate (18% in 2014). Faculty-level OREF grants appear to achieve their purpose of identifying and supporting researchers who aim to secure subsequent federal funding.
The goal of this study is to examine how successful faculty who have obtained OREF grants have been in securing NIH funding later in their careers. Although subsequent accrual of NIH funding is not the only goal of OREF funding, it can be used as an important benchmark to assess the development of orthopaedic clinician-scientists.
骨科研究与教育基金会（OREF）是美国领先的特定专科非政府组织，提供骨科研究资金。由于获得校外研究资金越来越困难，OREF的一项使命是支持研究人员生成数据，以便从美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）等机构获得更多的校外资金。本研究的目的是评估OREF教员级资助转化为后续NIH资助的比例，并确定是否存在可识别的因素能提高OREF资助转化为NIH资助的比例。
这是一项对1994年至2014年间授予全职骨科外科教员的OREF资助进行的回顾性研究。资助根据奖励类型进行分析，并分为基础科学、临床或流行病学三类。评估了性别、个人学术生产力和发表经验。使用NIH RePORTER网站评估所有获奖者随后获得NIH资助的情况。
121名个人获得了126项教员级OREF资助。27名OREF资助获得者（22%）在获得OREF资助后的平均6.3年获得了NIH资助。41名职业发展资助获得者中有19名（46%）后来获得了NIH资助，而85名其他获奖者中有10名（12%）获得了NIH资助。基础科学项目的OREF资助授予更为频繁（58%），获得NIH资助的可能性是非基础科学项目的4倍多（优势比，4.70[95%置信区间，1.66至13.33]；p = 0.0036）。后来获得NIH资助的教员具有更高的学术生产力和发表经验（p < 0.05）。
OREF资助获得者的转化率为22%，特别是职业发展资助获得者的转化率为46%，与NIH的总体资助成功率（2014年为18%）相比具有优势。教员级OREF资助似乎实现了其识别和支持旨在获得后续联邦资助的研究人员的目的。
本研究的目的是考察获得OREF资助的教员在其职业生涯后期获得NIH资助的成功程度。虽然随后获得NIH资助不是OREF资助的唯一目标，但它可以作为评估骨科临床科学家发展的一个重要基准。
