Abstract

The biomedical research enterprise in the US has become unsustainable and urgent action is needed to address a variety of problems, including a lack of innovation, an over-reliance on soft money for faculty salaries, the use of graduate students as a source of cheap labour, and a ‘holding tank’ full of talented postdocs with limited career opportunities.

Highlights

  • Biomedical scientists and research institutions in the US appear unable to read the writing on the wall

  • The annual budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) increased significantly over this period, rising from $1.06 billion in 1970 to $28.6 billion in 2005: annual growth averaged about 9% between 1970 and 1998, and was close to 15% during the subsequent five ‘doubling’ years (Korn et al, 2002)

  • Well before the century turned, the biomedical research enterprise in the US had become addicted to expansion

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Summary

The writing on the wall

The biomedical research enterprise in the US has become unsustainable and urgent action is needed to address a variety of problems, including a lack of innovation, an over-reliance on soft money for faculty salaries, the use of graduate students as a source of cheap labour, and a ‘holding tank’ full of talented postdocs with limited career opportunities

HENRY R BOURNE
The roots of the problem
Feature article
Six questions and my answers to them
How can we stop paying PhD trainees from research project grants?
How can we create a sustainable laboratory workforce?
Findings
Cooperation is required

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