P1.089: NIH Grants in Pediatric Surgery: What Defines Success?

Background: Securing NIH funding is a significant milestone for academic pediatric surgeons, supporting their career progression as well as scientific development in pediatric surgery. However, factors influencing success in obtaining such funding remain unclear. Identifying faculty characteristics and institutional structures linked to funding success can provide valuable insights into professional development pathways and inform strategies to enhance research support for pediatric surgery faculty. This study characterizes demographic and academic features associated with NIH funding acquisition among pediatric surgeons at the most funded institutions.

Methods: The 100 institutions receiving the highest NIH funding in 2023 were identified using data from the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. Faculty members in pediatric surgery at these institutions were listed based on information from their respective institutional websites. NIH funding status was determined for each faculty member using the NIH RePORTER database. Publicly available demographic and academic data, including academic rank, gender, medical school background (AMG/IMG/DO), h-index, professional development time (PDT) in the form of research fellowships during training, additional clinical fellowships beyond pediatric surgery, and advanced academic degrees (MS/MPH/PhD/etc.), were collected.

Results: A total of 649 pediatric surgery faculty members were identified, of whom 118 (18.1%) received NIH funding. Excluding the 19 institutions with incomplete information, the mean number of pediatric surgery faculty per institute was 7.5, with an average of 1.4 faculty members per institute receiving NIH funding. 9 institutions had non-MD (PhD) researchers as faculty members in their pediatric surgery division, in addition to MD faculty.
Table 1 shows baseline characteristics stratified by NIH funding status. Significantly more NIH-funded faculty had dedicated PDT during training (73.7% vs. 62.2%, p < 0.01). Among NIH-funded pediatric surgery faculty, 44.1% held advanced academic degrees beyond an MD compared to 28.3% of non-funded faculty (p < 0.01). NIH-funded faculty were less likely to have pursued additional clinical fellowships beyond pediatric surgery (22% vs. 27.2%, p < 0.01). This could suggest that faculty who prioritize research-oriented career paths mostly opt for graduate-level academic training instead of further clinical subspecialization.
Institutions with non-MD (PhD) researchers in their pediatric surgery division had a greater number of funded faculty members compared to those without non-MD researchers, though this difference did not significantly affect the percentage of funded faculty or the total grant amount (Table 2).

Conclusion: These data highlight the potential importance of formal research training for career development of surgeon-scientists. Programs that facilitate structured research opportunities or offer degree programs (MS, MPH, PhD) may increase the likelihood of their graduates securing NIH funding in the future. Encouraging trainees to consider PDT earlier in their careers may address the underrepresentation of NIH-funded faculty in pediatric surgery.