335 Federal Research Funding Trends for Cerebrovascular Neurosurgeons: The Decline of the Cerebrovascular Surgeon-Scientist?

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: With the rise of endovascular neurosurgery, the number of cerebrovascular (CV) surgeons has grown. However, it is unclear whether the number of CV surgeon-scientists has concomitantly increased. METHODS: Publicly available data were collected on currently practicing academic CV surgeons in the US. Inflation-adjusted NIH funding between 2009-2021 was surveyed using NIH RePORTER. The K12 Neurosurgeon Career Development Program grant data were queried for CV-focused grants. Pearson R correlation was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: From 2009-2021, NIH funding has increased: in total (p = 0.0318), to neurosurgeons (p < 0.0001), to CV research projects (p < 0.0001), and to CV surgeons (p = 0.0018). There has been an increase in the total number of CV surgeons (p < 0.0001), NIH-funded CV surgeons (p = 0.0034), and the percent of CV surgeons with NIH funding (p = 0.370). Additionally, active NIH grant dollars per CV surgeon (p = 0.0047) and number of NIH grants per CV surgeon (p = 0.0078) has increased. However, the percent of neurosurgeon-awarded NIH grants awarded specifically to CV surgeons has trended down over the past decade (p=0.3664). Analysis of early-career research grants showed a decline in the proportion of K12 applicants (p = 0.1840). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that there are more CV surgeons than ever, and there has been a proportional increase in number of NIH-funded CV surgeons. However, there are fewer early-career neurosurgeons pursuing CV-focused projects, and the proportion of neurosurgeon-awarded NIH grants given to CV surgeons has trended down. These findings suggest a declining trend in CV surgeons pursuing research careers.