Association of financial conflicts of interest with academic success among junior faculty in hematology and oncology.

Abstract

2080 Background: Financial conflict of interest (COI) represents a complex issue in hematology and oncology. Little is known about when COIs develop during a career and if these correlate with early career success. We evaluated self-reported COIs for junior faculty members at 10 academic cancer centers and examined if these financial relationships with industry correlated with measures of academic career success. Methods: The study evaluated 229 assistant professors from the top 10 cancer centers based on the 2018 US News Cancer rankings. Faculty characteristics were determined from hospital websites including the number of years since completing fellowship. Data regarding National Institute of Health (NIH) funding were obtained. Industry funds (Sunshine Act funds; SAF) were identified from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments database from 2013-2017. Self-reported COIs were obtained from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) or American Society of Hematology (ASH) disclosures databases, and through review of disclosures from recent publications. Measures of academic success included h-index and number of publications. We assessed the influence of number of COIs and SAF received on measures of academic success. Results: Of the 229 included faculty, 45% were female, 39% graduated fellowship in 2015 or later, 35% were double-boarded, 40% had dual degrees and 15% received NIH funding. Approximately 46% of faculty had at least 1 COI. COIs (ASCO/ASH) were positively correlated with COIs self-reported in publications and total SAF (Spearman correlations 0.57 and 0.54, both P < 0.01). The development of COIs and the number of SAF increased with years in practice (Spearman correlations 0.37 and 0.28, both P < 0.01). COIs and SAF correlated with h-index (Spearman correlation 0.40 and 0.41, both P < 0.01). After adjusting for years since fellowship, linear regression demonstrated that log-transformed h-index and number of publications were associated with SAF (P < 0.01) and COIs (ASCO/ASH) (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Financial COIs were present in nearly half of the faculty and increased with more time since completing fellowship. Measures of academic success were positively correlated with COIs (ASCO/ASH) and SAF. These data suggest that cultivating industry relationships may aid faculty in establishing early academic success.