EnhancingStewardship:NewEffortstoPromoteaStrongerandMoreStableBiomedicalResearch

Workforce

5thJointMeeting(4thCRAN)ofthe NationalAdvisoryCouncilonAlcoholAbuseandAlcoholism,NationalCancerAdvisoryBoard,andtheNationalAdvisoryCouncilonDrugAbuse

May3rd,2017

LawrenceA.Tabak,DDS,PhDPrincipalDeputyDirector,NIH

DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices1

NIHisentrustedtomaximizetheimpactoftheresearchdollars

thatweexpend

Wearealsocommittedtodevelopandsustainthemostqualifiedbiomedicalresearchworkforce

possible

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Thelong-heldbuterroneousassumptionofnever-endingrapidgrowthinbiomedicalsciencehascreatedanunsustainablehypercompetitivesystemthatisdiscouragingeventhemostoutstandingstudentsfromenteringourprofession…Thisisarecipeforlong-termdecline...ItistimetoconfontthedangersathandandrethinksomefundamentalfeaturesoftheUSbiomedicalresearchsystem.

Alberts B et al. PNAS. 2014;111:5773-7

TheObservation

4OER SARB

TheObservation

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OurprocessidentifiedtwocoreproblemsthattheUSbiomedicalresearchcommunityfaces:Toomanyresearchersvyingfortoofewdollars.Toomanypostdocscompetingfortoofewfaculty.

Kimbleetal.

AgeofInvestigatorsFundedbyNIH

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%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

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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

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Impactwasgenerallyadeceleratingfunctionoffunding.Impactperdollarwasthereforelowerforlargegrant-holders.Further,theimpactofresearcherswhoreceivedincreasesinfundingdidnotpredictablyincrease.

Fortin and Currie. PLoS One. 2013;8(6):e65263

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Weshowthatthreemeasuresofproductivity,thenumberofpublications,theimpactfactorofthejournalsinwhichpapersarepublishedandthenumberofcitations,areallpositivelycorrelatedtogroupsize,althoughtheyallshowapatternofdiminishingreturns—doublinggroupsizeleadstolessthanadoublinginproductivity.

PeerJ 3:e989; DOI 10.7717/peerj.989

HowdoweIncreasetheNumberofEarly-CareerFundedScientists?

HowdoweStabilizetheCareerTrajectoriesofScientists?

HowdoweMaximizetheImpactofNIHFunding?

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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

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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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NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health

Lawrence.Tabak@nih.gov

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