scholarly journals Assessing National Institutes of Health funding and scholarly impact in neurological surgery

2014 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter F. Svider ◽  
Qasim Husain ◽  
Adam J. Folbe ◽  
William T. Couldwell ◽  
James K. Liu ◽  
...  

Object Research productivity is increasingly important in academic neurological surgery and can be measured through a variety of methods, such as publications, objective bibliometrics, and securing external grant support. The authors' objectives were to determine whether there is an association between scholarly impact, as measured by the h index, and successful National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding awarded to faculty in neurological surgery departments. Methods Primary investigators receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards from Fiscal Years 2011–2013 were organized by academic rank, terminal degree, and their h index, as calculated from the Scopus database. These data were also obtained for nonfunded faculty from 15 randomly selected departments for comparison, and the average h index for each group was calculated. Results National Institutes of Health–funded faculty had higher average h indices than their nonfunded colleagues (23.6 vs 10.8, p < 0.0001), a finding that persisted upon controlling for academic rank. The mean h index increased with successive academic rank in both cohorts; greater funding totals were seen with successive academic position (Kruskal-Wallis, p < 0.05). National Institutes of Health–funded MDs had higher h indices than their PhD colleagues (p = 0.04), although funding levels did not differ significantly. There was a trend of increasing h index with higher NIH-funding ranges (p < 0.05). Conclusions The authors' findings demonstrate a strong relationship between scholarly impact and securing NIH funding among faculty in academic neurosurgical departments. Faculty receiving a greater amount of funding tended to have a higher h index. Mean scholarly impact, as measured by the h index, increased with successive academic rank among both NIH-funded and nonfunded faculty, suggesting that this bibliometric may have utility as an adjunct in the academic appointment and promotion process in academic neurological surgery.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Russell R. Lonser ◽  
Luke G. F. Smith ◽  
Michael Tennekoon ◽  
Kavon P. Rezai-Zadeh ◽  
Jeffrey G. Ojemann ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVETo increase the number of independent National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded neurosurgeons and to enhance neurosurgery research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) developed two national comprehensive programs (R25 [established 2009] for residents/fellows and K12 [2013] for early-career neurosurgical faculty) in consultation with neurosurgical leaders and academic departments to support in-training and early-career neurosurgeons. The authors assessed the effectiveness of these NINDS-initiated programs to increase the number of independent NIH-funded neurosurgeon-scientists and grow NIH neurosurgery research funding.METHODSNIH funding data for faculty and clinical department funding were derived from the NIH, academic departments, and Blue Ridge Institute of Medical Research databases from 2006 to 2019.RESULTSBetween 2009 and 2019, the NINDS R25 funded 87 neurosurgical residents. Fifty-three (61%) have completed the award and training, and 39 (74%) are in academic practice. Compared to neurosurgeons who did not receive R25 funding, R25 awardees were twice as successful (64% vs 31%) in obtaining K-series awards and received the K-series award in a significantly shorter period of time after training (25.2 ± 10.1 months vs 53.9 ± 23.0 months; p < 0.004). Between 2013 and 2019, the NINDS K12 has supported 19 neurosurgeons. Thirteen (68%) have finished their K12 support and all (100%) have applied for federal funding. Eleven (85%) have obtained major individual NIH grant support. Since the establishment of these two programs, the number of unique neurosurgeons supported by either individual (R01 or DP-series) or collaborative (U- or P-series) NIH grants increased from 36 to 82 (a 2.3-fold increase). Overall, NIH funding to clinical neurological surgery departments between 2006 and 2019 increased from $66.9 million to $157.3 million (a 2.2-fold increase).CONCLUSIONSTargeted research education and career development programs initiated by the NINDS led to a rapid and dramatic increase in the number of NIH-funded neurosurgeon-scientists and total NIH neurosurgery department funding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. e1-e8
Author(s):  
Michael Solotke ◽  
Susan Forster ◽  
Jessica Chow ◽  
Jenesis Duran ◽  
Hasna Karim ◽  
...  

Purpose The aim of this article is to examine the association between industry payments to ophthalmologists and scholarly impact. Design Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods All ophthalmology faculty at United States accredited ophthalmology residency programs were included in this study. The main exposure was industry payments to ophthalmologists in 2016, as reported in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments Database. The primary outcome was Hirsch index (H-index), a measure of scholarly impact. Results Among 1,653 academic ophthalmologists in our study, 1,225 (74%) received industry payments in 2016. We did not observe a difference between the mean H-index of ophthalmologists receiving any industry payments versus those not receiving any payments (p = 0.68). In analysis including only ophthalmologists who received industry payments, H-index differed significantly by payment amount: 12.6 for ophthalmologists receiving less than $100, 12.2 for those receiving $100 to 1,000, 18.8 for those receiving $1,000 to 10,000, 21.3 for those receiving $10,000 to 100,000, and 29.4 for those receiving greater than $100,000 (p < 0.001). Within each academic rank and gender, industry payments greater than $1,000 were associated with a higher H-index (p < 0.05). Conclusions Although our analysis cannot prove causality, we observed a significant association between industry payments and scholarly impact among academic ophthalmologists, even after adjusting for gender, academic rank, and subspecialty. Prospective studies should further evaluate this relationship.


2020 ◽  
pp. 000313482096628
Author(s):  
Kelly J. Lafaro ◽  
Amit S. Khithani ◽  
Paul Wong ◽  
Christopher J. LaRocca ◽  
Susanne G. Warner ◽  
...  

Background Academic achievement is an integral part of the promotion process; however, there are no standardized metrics for faculty or leadership to reference in assessing this potential for promotion. The aim of this study was to identify metrics that correlate with academic rank in hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) surgeons. Materials and Methods Faculty was identified from 17 fellowship council accredited HPB surgery fellowships in the United States and Canada. The number of publications, citations, h-index values, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for each faculty member was captured. Results Of 111 surgeons identified, there were 31 (27%) assistant, 39 (35%) associate, and 41 (36%) full professors. On univariate analysis, years in practice, h-index, and a history of NIH funding were significantly associated with a surgeon’s academic rank ( P < .05). Years in practice and h-index remained significant on multivariate analysis ( P < .001). Discussion Academic productivity metrics including h-index and NIH funding are associated with promotion to the next academic rank.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 1028-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Gelinne ◽  
Scott Zuckerman ◽  
Deborah Benzil ◽  
Sean Grady ◽  
Peter Callas ◽  
...  

AbstractBACKGROUNDUnited States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step I score is cited as one of the most important factors when for applying to neurosurgery residencies. No studies have documented a correlation between USMLE Step I score and metrics of neurosurgical career trajectory beyond residency.OBJECTIVETo determine whether USMLE Step I exam scores are predictive of neurosurgical career beyond residency, as defined by American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) certification status, practice type, academic rank, and research productivity.METHODSA database of neurosurgery residency applicants who matched into neurosurgery from 1997 to 2007 was utilized that included USMLE Step I score. Online databases were used to determine h-index, National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding, academic rank, practice type, and ABNS certification status of each applicant. Linear regression and nonparametric testing determined associations between USMLE Step I scores and these variables.RESULTSUSMLE Step I scores were higher for neurosurgeons in academic positions (237) when compared to community practice (234) and non-neurosurgeons (233, P < .01). USMLE Step I score was not different between neurosurgeons of different academic rank (P = .21) or ABNS certification status (P = .78). USMLE Step I score was not correlated with h-index for academic neurosurgeons (R2 = 0.002, P = .36).CONCLUSIONUSMLE Step I score has little utility in predicting the future careers of neurosurgery resident applicants. A career in academic neurosurgery is associated with a slightly higher USMLE Step I score. However, USMLE Step I score does not predict academic rank or productivity (h-index or NIH funding) nor does USMLE Step I score predict ABNS certification status.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsung-Han Lee ◽  
Yu-Hua Huang ◽  
Tsung-Ming Su ◽  
Chih-Feng Chen ◽  
Cheng-Hsien Lu ◽  
...  

Spontaneous cerebellar hemorrhage (SCH) is associated with high patient mortality and morbidity, but the clinical and radiographic predictors of the postoperative outcome have not been widely addressed in the literature. The purpose of this study was to define the prognostic factors for the two-year postoperative outcome in patients with SCH. We conducted a retrospective study of 48 consecutive patients with SCH who underwent neurosurgical intervention. Correlation analysis was performed to examine the possible link between clinical and radiographic parameters, and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at each patient’s discharge and the two-year postoperative outcome as defined according to the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS). A total of 48 patients with SCH underwent neurological surgery, which included suboccipital craniectomy and/or external ventricular drainage (EVD). The mean patient age was 63 years. Nine patients underwent suboccipital craniectomy only; 38 underwent both suboccipital craniectomy and EVD. The overall mortality rate was 35.4%. Fourteen patients (29.2%) had good outcomes. A good outcome on the GOS at 2 years after surgical treatment of SCH was associated with the NIHSS score at discharge. An increase of one point in a patient’s NIHSS score at discharge following neurological surgery will increase the probability of a poor two-year postoperative outcome by 28.5%.


2015 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 683-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Pagel ◽  
Judith A. Hudetz

Abstract Background: The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) grant program provides fellows and junior faculty members with grant support to stimulate their careers. The authors conducted a bibliometric analysis of recipients of FAER grants since 1987. Methods: Recipients were identified in the FAER alumni database. Each recipient’s affiliation was identified using an Internet search (keyword “anesthesiology”). The duration of activity, publications, publication rate, citations, citation rate, h-index, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for each recipient were obtained using the Scopus® (Elsevier, USA) and NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools® (National Institutes of Health, USA) databases. Results: Three hundred ninety-seven individuals who received 430 FAER grants were analyzed, 79.1% of whom currently hold full-time academic appointments. Recipients published 19,647 papers with 548,563 citations and received 391 NIH grants totaling $448.44 million. Publications, citations, h-index, the number of NIH grants, and amount of support were dependent on academic rank and years of activity (P &lt; 0.0001). Recipients who acquired NIH grants (40.3%) had greater scholarly output than those who did not. Recipients with more publications were also more likely to secure NIH grants. Women had fewer publications and lower h-index than men, but there were no gender-based differences in NIH funding. Scholarly output was similar in recipients with MD and PhD degrees versus those with MD degrees alone, but recipients with MD and PhD degrees were more likely to receive NIH funding than those with MDs alone. Conclusion: Most FAER alumni remain in academic anesthesiology and have established a consistent record of scholarly output that appears to exceed reported productivity for average faculty members identified in previous studies.


Author(s):  
Min Chen ◽  
Dorothea Kronsteiner ◽  
Johannes Pfaff ◽  
Simon Schieber ◽  
Laura Jäger ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Optimal blood pressure (BP) management during endovascular stroke treatment in patients with large-vessel occlusion is not well established. We aimed to investigate associations of BP during different phases of endovascular therapy with reperfusion and functional outcome. Methods We performed a post hoc analysis of a single-center prospective study that evaluated a new simplified procedural sedation standard during endovascular therapy (Keep Evaluating Protocol Simplification in Managing Periinterventional Light Sedation for Endovascular Stroke Treatment). BP during endovascular therapy in patients was managed according to protocol. Data from four different phases (baseline, pre-recanalization, post recanalization, and post intervention) were obtained, and mean BP values, as well as changes in BP between different phases and reductions in systolic BP (SBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) from baseline to pre-recanalization, were used as exposure variables. The main outcome was a modified Rankin Scale score of 0–2 three months after admission. Secondary outcomes were successful reperfusion and change in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score after 24 h. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used for statistical analysis. Results Functional outcomes were analyzed in 139 patients with successful reperfusion (defined as thrombolysis in cerebral infarction grade 2b–3). The mean (standard deviation) age was 76 (10.9) years, the mean (standard deviation) National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 14.3 (7.5), and 70 (43.5%) patients had a left-sided vessel occlusion. Favorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 0–2) was less likely with every 10-mm Hg increase in baseline (odds ratio [OR] 0.76, P = 0.04) and pre-recanalization (OR 0.65, P = 0.011) SBP. This was also found for baseline (OR 0.76, P = 0.05) and pre-recanalization MAP (OR 0.66, P = 0.03). The maximum Youden index in a receiver operating characteristics analysis revealed an SBP of 163 mm Hg and MAP of 117 mm Hg as discriminatory thresholds during the pre-recanalization phase to predict functional outcome. Conclusions In our protocol-based setting, intraprocedural pre-recanalization BP reductions during endovascular therapy were not associated with functional outcome. However, higher intraprocedural pre-recanalization SBP and MAP were associated with worse functional outcome. Prospective randomized controlled studies are needed to determine whether BP is a feasible treatment target for the modification of outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-60
Author(s):  
Kristine M. Kulage ◽  
Joshua R. Massei ◽  
Elaine L. Larson

Ordinal rankings of schools of nursing by research funding in total dollars awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a common metric for demonstrating research productivity; however, these data are not based on the number of doctorally prepared faculty eligible to apply for funding. Therefore, we examined an alternative method for measuring research productivity which accounts for size differences in schools: NIH funding ranked “per capita.” We extracted data on total average funding and compared them with average funding secured per faculty member across top-ranked schools of nursing in the United States from 2013 to 2017. When examining data by number of doctorally prepared faculty, 4 of 12 (33%) schools that ranked lower in total average funding ranked higher in average funding per faculty member. School size is an important but neglected factor in current funding rankings; therefore, we encourage schools to use multiple approaches to track their research productivity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (05) ◽  
pp. 443-448
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Sperling ◽  
Rachel Shulman ◽  
Cinthia Blat ◽  
Edward Miller ◽  
Jolene Kokroko ◽  
...  

Objective This article evaluates gender differences in academic rank and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding among academic maternal–fetal medicine (MFM) physicians. Study Design This was a cross-sectional study of board-certified academic MFM physicians. Physicians were identified in July 2017 from the MFM fellowship Web sites. Academic rank and receipt of any NIH funding were compared by gender. Data on potential confounders were collected, including years since board certification, region of practice, additional degrees, number of publications, and h-index. Results We identified 659 MFM physicians at 72 institutions, 312 (47.3%) male and 347 (52.7%) female. There were 246 (37.3%) full, 163 (24.7%) associate, and 250 (37.9%) assistant professors. Among the 154 (23.4%) MFM physicians with NIH funding, 89 (57.8%) were male and 65 (42.2%) were female (p = 0.003). Adjusting for potential confounders, male MFM physicians were twice as likely to hold a higher academic rank than female MFM physicians (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.04 [95% confidence interval, 1.39–2.94], p < 0.001). There was no difference in NIH funding between male and female MFM physicians (aOR, 1.23 [0.79–1.92], p = 0.36). Conclusion Compared with female academic MFM physicians, male academic MFM physicians were twice as likely to hold a higher academic rank but were no more likely to receive NIH funding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Loukas Samaras ◽  
Miguel-Angel Sicilia ◽  
Elena García-Barriocanal

Abstract Background In recent years new forms of syndromic surveillance that use data from the Internet have been proposed. These have been developed to assist the early prediction of epidemics in various cases and diseases. It has been found that these systems are accurate in monitoring and predicting outbreaks before these are observed in population and, therefore, they can be used as a complement to other methods. In this research, our aim is to examine a highly infectious disease, measles, as there is no extensive literature on forecasting measles using Internet data, Methods This research has been conducted with official data on measles for 5 years (2013–2018) from the competent authority of the European Union (European Center of Disease and Prevention - ECDC) and data obtained from Google Trends by using scripts coded in Python. We compared regression models forecasting the development of measles in the five countries. Results Results show that measles can be estimated and predicted through Google Trends in terms of time, volume and the overall spread. The combined results reveal a strong relationship of measles cases with the predicted cases (correlation coefficient R= 0.779 in two-tailed significance p< 0.01). The mean standard error was relatively low 45.2 (12.19%) for the combined results. However, major differences and deviations were observed for countries with a relatively low impact of measles, such as the United Kingdom and Spain. For these countries, alternative models were tested in an attempt to improve the results. Conclusions The estimation of measles cases from Google Trends produces acceptable results and can help predict outbreaks in a robust and sound manner, at least 2 months in advance. Python scripts can be used individually or within the framework of an integrated Internet surveillance system for tracking epidemics as the one addressed here.


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