Online Reports Research Articles

Recent trends in US federal research support for imaging instrumentation grants to departments of radiology

Established by the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1982, the S10 program supports the purchase or upgrade of expensive, specialized, and commercially available equipment to be shared among NIH-funded researchers and used to supplement ongoing and future research projects in basic, translational, or clinical research. Given the critical role of biomedical research that uses costly dedicated imaging equipment and requires a large footprint, extensive user training, and frequent upgrades, we analyzed S10 awards to Radiology in the past 10 years.Data were exported from NIH RePORTER (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools) using a search of S10 awards from NIH fiscal year (FY) 2014 – FY2023. All awards and funding data were limited to clinical departments.From FY2014 – FY2023, the NIH awarded $273.0 M in S10 awards, corresponding to an average award amount of $837,377. During this 10-year period, departments of radiology received $135.8 M (49.7 %) across 116 awards (35.6 %), corresponding to an average award amount of $1.17 M Among the different S10 award types to Radiology, the most common was High End Instrumentation (HEI), with 54 (61.4 %) out of 116 awards.Departments of radiology received over one-third-of all S10 awards in the last 10 NIH FYs, corresponding to nearly half all federal S10 funding. The most common S10 award type to Radiology was the HEI, with funding for high priced imaging equipment, including MRI scanners and associated instrumentation for use in human or animal imaging.

Exploring Kleefstra syndrome cohort phenotype characteristics: Prevalence insights from caregiver-reported outcomes

Kleefstra syndrome (KLEFS1) is a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder affecting multiple body systems. It continues to be under-researched, and its prevalence remains unknown. This paper builds on the international KLEFS1 cohort of 172 individuals based on the caregiver-reported outcomes collected within the online data collection platform GenIDA and reports the occurrence, frequency and severity of symptoms in KLEFS1. The study clearly shows the importance of caregiver-reported outcomes collections in the rare disease domain. Moreover, the study emphasizes the need for more specific and enhanced data collection methods, suggesting recommendations to optimize caregiver-reported registries and foster an even more profound understanding of rare diseases.

Data sharing policies across health research globally: Cross-sectional meta-research study.

Data sharing improves the value, synthesis, and integrity of research, but rates are low. Data sharing might be improved if data sharing policies were prominent and actionable at every stage of research. We aimed to systematically describe the epidemiology of data sharing policies across the health research lifecycle. This was a cross-sectional analysis of the data sharing policies of the largest health research funders, all national ethics committees, all clinical trial registries, the highest-impact medical journals, and all medical research data repositories. Stakeholders' official websites, online reports, and other records were reviewed up to May 2022. The strength and characteristics of their data sharing policies were assessed, including their policies on data sharing intention statements (a.k.a. data accessibility statements) and on data sharing specifically for coronavirus disease studies. Data were manually extracted in duplicate, and policies were descriptively analysed by their stakeholder and characteristics. Nine hundred and thirty-five eligible stakeholders were identified: 110 funders, 124 ethics committees, 18 trial registries, 273 journals, and 410 data repositories. Data sharing was required by 41% (45/110) of funders, no ethics committees or trial registries, 19% (52/273) of journals and 6% (24/410) of data repositories. Among funder types, a higher proportion of private (63%, 35/55) and philanthropic (67%, 4/6) funders required data sharing than public funders (12%, 6/49). Data sharing requirements, and even recommendations, were insufficient across health research. Where data sharing was required or recommended, there was limited guidance on implementation. We describe multiple pathways to improve the implementation of data sharing. Public funders and ethics committees are two stakeholders with particularly important untapped opportunities.

MIBLood-EV: An Online Reporting Tool to Facilitate the Standardized Reporting of Preanalytical Variables and Quality Control of Plasma and Serum to Enhance Rigor and Reproducibility in Liquid Biopsy Research.

Pre-analytical variability significantly impacts the reproducibility of liquid biopsy research, which is critical for precision medicine and biomedical research. This report highlights the challenges and variability in the pre-analytical processes of liquid biopsies, especially regarding extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are crucial for diagnostics in oncology. The MIBlood-EV initiative aims to standardize the reporting of pre-analytical variables and the quality control of plasma and serum samples to enhance reproducibility in EV research. By providing a comprehensive and flexible reporting framework, MIBlood-EV seeks to improve the reliability of EV studies and facilitate the development of evidence-based protocols, ultimately advancing the field of liquid biopsy research.

Nursing Informatics and Digital Technology Using in Aging Home Care Delivery Development

This participatory action research aimed to enhance nurses’ role in informatics and digital technology for aging home care delivery at 13 health-promoting hospitals, in Kantharawichai District, Mahasarakham Province, Northeastern Thailand from January - December 2021. There were 139 participants; 13 nurses, 52 community caregivers, 37 family caregivers, and 37 bed-bound elderly. The researchers facilitated the participants sharing of their own experiences and reflected on aging home care. This research included four phases; 1) Assessment; data was collected through in-depth interviews, small group dialogue, and observation of nurses and caregivers practicing, 2) Intervention planning; three times brainstorming was created for health problem identification and intervention planning, 3) Intervention; participants joined aging home care delivery, 4) Evaluation; brainstorming was created for each health promoting hospital evaluation. Content analysis was used for data analysis. Results showed that; Nurses as care managers of this PAR cooperative learning efforts increased knowledge, attitude, and practice in informatic and digital technology to develop aging home care. They formulated strategies to supervise caregivers caring for bed-bound elderly; 1) enhancing caregivers’ knowledge through the application, raising awareness and skill regarding informatics and digital technology applied for care plan and counseling, 2) promotion of online reports for aging caregiver activities, 3) creation line official for supervising caregiver caring, and 4) online network development of aging home care delivery linked to district hospital for medical consulting and local administrative organization for economic and social consulting. The empowering participatory process of this PAR could encourage nurses to create a way for effective supervision and cooperative primary care through line official effectiveness. This process can be applied to create and enhance informatics and digital technology for complex caring in rural areas.

Potential of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi to Overcome Drought Stress and Low Nutrient Availability in Dryland Farming

There is an increasing rate of land conversion in Indonesia that can threaten food self-sufficiency. Therefore farmers and the government must expand agriculture by developing agriculture on potential available lands such as drylands. However, drylands in Indonesia have low productivity due to low water and nutrient availability. This article aims to determine the potential use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to overcome drought stress and low nutrient availability in drylands. The method used in writing this article is a desk literature study conducted by collecting data from various sources, such as scientific journals, seminar proceedings, and online reports available in related government office in West Nusatenggara Province. The data obtained were then analyzed qualitatively by identifying, reviewing, and synthesizing information to produce a complete and comprehensive explanation. The results of the literature study showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have the potential to overcome drought stress and low nutrient availability in drylands. The use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can be a sustainable solution to increase agricultural productivity in drylands.

Ayushman Bharat Yojana – A Beneficiary Level Study

Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a nationwide public health insurance initiative administered by the Indian government, aims to provide free health insurance coverage to low-income individuals in the country. It is also referred to as PMJAY or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Launched on September 23, 2018, this program is designed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their underlying commitment. Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, approximately 100 million impoverished and vulnerable families in India will be covered, offering up to Rs. 5lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalizations. Additionally, the initiative proposes the establishment of 150,000 health and wellness centers nationwide, providing comprehensive primary healthcare services. Both public and privately affiliated medical facilities are eligible to offer healthcare services to beneficiaries of the insurance program. This program stands as one of the largest publicly funded health insurance initiatives globally. This paper is based on a combination of primary and secondary data sources. Primary data was collected from selected respondents in the study village of Parakuchi in the Kamrup Rural District of Assam. Secondary data was obtained from various online reports and articles. Among the 80 sample respondents, 38 individuals have already received their Ayushman Bharat cards, while 42 are still awaiting theirs. However, none of the respondents have utilized their cards yet, as they have recently received them and do not currently experience any major health issues.

Potential of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi to Overcome Drought Stress and Low Nutrient Availability in Dryland Farming

There is an increasing rate of land conversion in Indonesia that can threaten food self-sufficiency. Therefore farmers and the government must expand agriculture by developing agriculture on potential available lands such as drylands. However, drylands in Indonesia have low productivity due to low water and nutrient availability. This article aims to determine the potential use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to overcome drought stress and low nutrient availability in drylands. The method used in writing this article is a desk literature study conducted by collecting data from various sources, such as scientific journals, seminar proceedings, and online reports available in related government office in West Nusatenggara Province. The data obtained were then analyzed qualitatively by identifying, reviewing, and synthesizing information to produce a complete and comprehensive explanation. The results of the literature study showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have the potential to overcome drought stress and low nutrient availability in drylands. The use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can be a sustainable solution to increase agricultural productivity in drylands.

Evaluating Research Activity and NIH-Funding Among Academic Ophthalmologists Using Relative Citation Ratio

ABSTRACT Purpose The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between research activity and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding status of the United States (US) academic ophthalmologists. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of bibliometric data was conducted. The NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Reports (rePORTER) website was utilized to identify ophthalmology departments in the US that received NIH funding. Affiliated faculty from these institutions were then identified using NIH rePORTER and institutional websites. H-index was calculated using the Scopus database, and the NIH iCite tool was used to determine the Relative Citation Ratio (RCR). The h-index and w-RCR quantified research productivity, while m-RCR measured research impact. Results Data on 2688 faculty members from 66 departments we re identified, of which 21% were NIH-funded. Faculty members who received NIH-funding had significantly greater research productivity and impact as measured by h-index (32.5 vs 16.6; p < .001), m-RCR (2.2 vs 1.6; p < .001), and w-RCR (147.2 vs 70.1; p < .001) than their non-funded peers. When stratified by academic rank, NIH-funded faculty still had significantly higher h-index (16.1 vs 7.9; p < .001), m-RCR (2.2 vs 1.4; p < .001), and w-RCR (63.2 vs 61.8; p < .001) than non-funded peers. A similar trend was observed among non-tenured faculty members. Conclusion NIH funding is associated with higher research productivity and impact among US academic ophthalmologists as measured by h-index and RCR, which suggests that NIH funding may be a critical factor in enhancing scholarly contributions of ophthalmologists. These findings underscore the importance of continued investment in NIH funding to foster high-impact research within the field of ophthalmology.

Coverage from medical teams and injury/illness epidemiology within youth athletics in Africa: A prospective study during the 2023 African Youth Under 18/20 Athletics Championships

ObjectivesTo describe athletes' coverage by national medical teams, and injuries and illnesses occurring during the four weeks before and during the 2023 African Youth Under 18/20 Athletics Championships. DesignCross-sectional and prospective cohort study design. MethodsWe conducted a study with data collection of: 1) national medical teams, 2) injury and illness complaints during the four weeks preceding the championships using an online pre-participation health questionnaire, and 3) newly incurred in-championship injuries and illnesses collected by national medical teams and the local organising committee using daily standardised online report forms, for all registered athletes at the championships. ResultsAmong the 43 countries participating at the championships, 15 (34.9 %) countries had a medical team with at least one medical personnel. Of the 15 countries, 6 (40.0 %) countries had at least one physiotherapist and one physician, 4 (26.7 %) countries had only physiotherapist(s), and 5 (33.3 %) countries had only physician(s). Nine (60 %) countries participated in the injury surveillance study, including 397 athletes: 61 (15.4 %) completed the pre-participation health questionnaire and 11 athletes (18.0 %) reported an injury complaint and 6 (9.8 %) an illness complaint during the four weeks before the championships. During the championships, there were 52.9 injuries and 50.4 illnesses per 1000 registered athletes. The main injury location was the thigh (33.3 %), and the main injury type was the muscle (47.6 %). The most common system affected by illness was the upper respiratory tract (55.0 %), and the main illness cause was idiopathic (50.0 %). ConclusionsThis preliminary study provides foundational information to improve medical coverage and services during international championships, and orient injury/illness prevention in youth athletics across Africa.

The Reddit cannabis subjective highness rating scale: Applying computational social science to explore psychological and environmental correlates of naturalistic cannabis use.

Social media data provide unprecedented access to discussions of active, naturalistic, and often real-time cannabis use in an era of cannabis policy liberalization. The aim of this study was to explore psychological and environmental correlates of cannabis effects by applying computational social science approaches to a large dataset of unprompted reports of naturalistic cannabis use with corresponding self-reported numerical ratings of subjective highness. Post title text was extracted via the Pushshift dataset from N = 328,865 posts to the r/trees Reddit community, where posters self-assess and disclose how high they feel on a scale from 1 to 10 (M = 6.9, SD = 1.8). Structural topic modelling and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) dictionary-based approaches were applied to identify (1) frequently discussed topics and (2) text indicative of 5 psychological processes (affective, social, cognitive, perceptual, biological), respectively, as well as to examine relationships between subjective highness and (1) topic prevalence and (2) psychological process word counts. A 40-topic model was selected for interpretation based on semantic coherence and exclusivity. The most discussed topics in a 40-topic model were characterized by references to smoking places, social contexts, positive affect, cognitive states, as well as food and media consumed. In LIWC dictionary analyses, words mentioning affective, social, and cognitive processes were referenced more often than perceptual or body processes. Posters reported greater subjective highness when using language that referred to in-person social environments and lower subjective highness when using language that referred to online social environments and positive affect psychological states. This examination of unprompted online reports of naturalistic cannabis use identified textual content referring to affect and to other people as being associated with perceived effects of cannabis. These affective and social aspects of the cannabis use experience were salient to active posters in this online community and should be integrated into experience sampling methods and behavioral pharmacology research, as well as public health messaging.

Incidence of public health surveillance-reported Clostridioides difficile infections in thirteen countries worldwide: A narrative review

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Data from public health surveillance systems are important for estimating country-level CDI burden. CDI surveillance can be population-based or hospital-based. Population-based surveillance results in overall estimates of CDI incidence (cases per 100,000 population-per-year), and hospital-based surveillance results in estimates of hospital-based CDI incidence (cases per 10,000 patient-days) or CDI admission rates (cases per 1,000 admissions). We sought to better understand temporal trends in CDI incidence reported in publicly available surveillance data worldwide and describe varying surveillance methods. We identified 13 countries in Europe, North America, and Oceania with publicly available population-based and/or hospital-based CDI surveillance data in online reports and/or dashboards. Additional countries in Europe, in particular, also conduct hospital-based CDI surveillance. Inconsistent CDI case definitions and surveillance approaches between countries limit the interpretability of multi-country comparisons. Nonetheless, publicly available CDI surveillance data enabled us to compare CDI incidence among countries with population-based and/or hospital-based surveillance systems and to describe trends in CDI incidence within countries over time. The highest CDI incidence is in the United States. While there have been recent declines in CDI incidence in all countries, the CDI burden remains high, and the need persists for CDI prevention strategies in communities and healthcare settings.

Cracking the code: Can bibliometric attributes predict NIH R01 grant funding outcomes in gastrointestinal oncology? Exploring patterns from a five-year analysis.

9051 Background: The allocation of National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grants holds paramount importance for principal investigators in the field of scientific research. In this study, we explore the relationship between bibliometric attributes of principal investigators- specifically H-index, citations, publications, and seniority with the amount of NIH grant funding for R01 grants under gastrointestinal oncology from the fiscal years of 2018 to 2022. Understanding these interrelationships is crucial for researchers aiming to enhance their profiles to secure higher funding amounts from the NIH. Methods: The data was retrieved from the NIH RePORTER (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditure) using gastrointestinal oncology-related search terms from 2018-2022. The number of citations, publications, H-index, and seniority were obtained from Scopus. The bibliometric attributes of principal investigators were correlated with NIH grant funding amounts. Multiple regression analysis was employed to quantify the predictive power. Additionally, t-tests were performed to examine the significant differences in grant funding between high and low h-index groups. Results: A total of 1652 principal investigators who were awarded a gastrointestinal oncology related R01 grant were included in this study. The H-index consistently showcases a positive correlation with the amount of grant funding, reaching statistical significance in 2020 (H-index coefficient=1510.49, p value=0.07). Concurrently, t-tests emphasize the importance of H-index, illustrating that PI’s with high H-indexes (H-index &gt;42) secure significantly higher funding (average grant=$423,806, p=0.006 compared to those in the lower H-index group (average grant=$420,306, p=0.004). Conversely, citations showcased mixed results, with 2020 revealing a significant negative correlation (coefficient: -1.63, p= 0.04). Publications displayed a strong positive effect in 2021 (coefficient: 231.68, p value=0.10). Seniority exhibited varying impacts across years, notably a significant negative relationship in 2018 (coefficient: -3013.9, p=0.025). Conclusions: This study illuminates the complex interplay between PI’s bibliometric attributes and NIH grant funding outcomes. Notably, high h-index values consistently correlate with a higher funding amount for NIH grants. Although these insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors influencing NIH grants, further analysis should investigate additional variables that may significantly impact NIH grant funding.

Unraveling Corruption: Current Cases, Global Implications, and Potential Solutions

Corruption is a widespread issue that impacts individuals, businesses, and societies on various levels. This research paper seeks to delve into the nature of corruption and how it influences economic progress, political stability, and societal welfare. Through the methodology of case study and literature review of academic resources from journals, books, and online reports, this paper utilizes a search strategy including keywords like "corruption " "implications " "economic impact," "societal effects " and "South Africa." Additionally, it investigates the effects of corruption on development, social trust, inequality, and institutional integrity. By analyzing existing research materials this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the multifaceted aspects of corruption and its broad implications, in hopes of identifying potential solutions. As a result, it is concluded that corruption in the status quo perpetuates due to both historical trends and modern socio-economic conditions, resulting in intertwined negative impacts that affect individuals and societies simultaneously. It is also found that multifaceted solutions that combine groundwork policies with innovative strategies including ecommerce support for impoverished citizens, in order to become self-sufficient and more resilient to diminishing welfare resources caused by corruption.

Unraveling Corruption: Current Cases, Global Implications, and Potential Solutions

Corruption is a widespread issue that impacts individuals, businesses, and societies on various levels. This research paper seeks to delve into the nature of corruption and how it influences economic progress, political stability, and societal welfare. Through the methodology of case study and literature review of academic resources from journals, books, and online reports, this paper utilizes a search strategy including keywords like "corruption " "implications " "economic impact," "societal effects " and "South Africa." Additionally, it investigates the effects of corruption on development, social trust, inequality, and institutional integrity. By analyzing existing research materials this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the multifaceted aspects of corruption and its broad implications, in hopes of identifying potential solutions. As a result, it is concluded that corruption in the status quo perpetuates due to both historical trends and modern socio-economic conditions, resulting in intertwined negative impacts that affect individuals and societies simultaneously. It is also found that multifaceted solutions that combine groundwork policies with innovative strategies including ecommerce support for impoverished citizens, in order to become self-sufficient and more resilient to diminishing welfare resources caused by corruption.

A Scholarly Dialog on Recent Trends in National Institutes of Health's Funding for the Thyroid Field.

Background: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the major funding agency for biomedical research in the United States. To initiate a scholarly dialog about research and career development in the thyroid field, here we reviewed recent trends in NIH funding for this area. We used the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool database to estimate the level of NIH extramural support during 2013-2022 (number of active grants/year and $amount/year weighed by the total number of active grants/year and $amount/year), provided by the NIH to the thyroid field. We determined that in 2013, the NIH supported ∼140 grants/year, totaling almost $50 million/year, the majority in the form of R01 grants. Within the thyroid field, support was evenly split between thyroid cancer and thyroid hormone metabolism and action subareas. In the subsequent years (2014-2022), the total number of active grants peaked at 150/year ($55 million) in 2014 but progressively decreased to about 100 active grants/year ($30 million) in 2022. This trend occurred while the NIH budget increased from $29 to $46 billion/year. Globally, the number of thyroid-related publications increased by ∼70% during the study period, and the fractional contribution of several countries remained relatively stable, except for China which increased by ∼600%. Remarkably, the fraction of thyroid-related publications in the United States sponsored by the NIH decreased from 5.5% to 3.1% of the global number. Conclusion: These results constitute a very concerning scenario for research and education in the thyroid field. We appeal to the NIH, the professional societies in endocrinology and thyroidology, and all other relevant stakeholders such as thyroid-related professionals and thyroid patients to engage in further discussions to identify the root causes of this trend and implement an action plan to stabilize and eventually reverse this situation.

Trends in financial payments from industry to US cancer centers, 2014-2021.

Industry payments to US cancer centers are poorly understood. US National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers were identified (n = 51). Industry payments to NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers from 2014 to 2021 were obtained from Open Payments and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding from NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT). Given our focus on cancer centers, we measured the subset of industry payments related to cancer drugs specifically and the subset of NIH funding from the NCI. Despite a pandemic-related decline in 2020-2021, cancer-related industry payments to NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers increased from $482 million in 2014 to $972 million in 2021. Over the same period, NCI research grant funding increased from $2 481 million to $2 724 million. The large majority of nonresearch payments were royalties and licensing payments. Industry payments to NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers increased substantially more than NCI funding in recent years but were also more variable. These trends raise concerns regarding the influence and instability of industry payments.

The pediatric surgeon-scientist: An evolving breed or endangered phenotype?

IntroductionNational Institute of Health (NIH) funding is a “gold-standard” of achievement; we examined trends in NIH-funded pediatric surgeons. MethodsNIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) was queried for American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) members (2012 vs 2022). Demographics and time-to-award (TTA) from fellowship were compared. Number of grants, funding allotment, award classification, administering institutes/centers, research type were studied. ResultsThirty-eight (4.6%) APSA members were NIH-funded in 2012 compared to 37 (2.9%) in 2022. Of funded surgeons in 2022, 27% were repeat awardees from 2012. TTA was similar (12 vs 14years, p=0.109). At each point, awards were commonly R01 grants (40 vs 52%, p ​= ​0.087) and basic science-related (76 vs 63%, p = ​0.179). Awardees were predominantly men (82% in 2012 vs 78% in 2022, p=0.779) and White (82% in 2012 vs 76% in 2022, p=0.586). Median amount per grant increased: $254,980 (2012) to $364,025 (2022); by $96,711 for men and $390,911 for women. Median awards for White surgeons increased by $215,699 (p=0.035), and decreased by $30,074 for non-White surgeons, though not significantly (p=0.368). ConclusionThe landscape of NIH-funded pediatric surgeons has remained unchanged between time points. With a substantial number of repeat awardees, predominance of R01 grants, and a median TTA over a decade after fellowship graduation, the phenotypes of early career pediatric surgeon-scientists are facing academic endangerment.

Machine Learning-based Analysis of Publications Funded by the National Institutes of Health's Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Response.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) mobilized more than $4 billion in extramural funding for the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessing the research output from this effort is crucial to understanding how the scientific community leveraged federal funding and responded to this public health crisis. NIH-funded COVID-19 grants awarded between January 2020 and December 2021 were identified from NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results using the "COVID-19 Response" filter. PubMed identifications of publications under these grants were collected and the NIH iCite tool was used to determine citation counts and focus (eg, clinical, animal). iCite and the NIH's LitCOVID database were used to identify publications directly related to COVID-19. Publication titles and Medical Subject Heading terms were used as inputs to a machine learning-based model built to identify common topics/themes within the publications. We evaluated 2401 grants that resulted in 14 654 publications. The majority of these papers were published in peer-reviewed journals, though 483 were published to preprint servers. In total, 2764 (19%) papers were directly related to COVID-19 and generated 252 029 citations. These papers were mostly clinically focused (62%), followed by cell/molecular (32%), and animal focused (6%). Roughly 60% of preprint publications were cell/molecular-focused, compared with 26% of nonpreprint publications. The machine learning-based model identified the top 3 research topics to be clinical trials and outcomes research (8.5% of papers), coronavirus-related heart and lung damage (7.3%), and COVID-19 transmission/epidemiology (7.2%). This study provides key insights regarding how researchers leveraged federal funding to study the COVID-19 pandemic during its initial phase.

Factors Associated with Research Productivity and National Institutes of Health Funding in Academic Otology.

Bibliometrics, such as the Hirsch index (h-index) and the more recently developed relative citation ratio (RCR), are utilized to evaluate research productivity. Our study evaluates demographics, research productivity, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in academic otology. Academic otologists were identified, and their demographics were collected using institutional faculty profiles (N = 265). Funding data were obtained using the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Reports Database. The h-index was calculated using Scopus and mean (m-RCR) and weighted RCR (w-RCR) were calculated using the NIH iCite tool. H-index (aOR 1.18, 95% CI 1.10-1.27, p < 0.001), but not m-RCR (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 0.97-2.31, p = 0.069) or w-RCR (aOR 1.00, 95% CI 0.99-1.00, p = 0.231), was associated with receiving NIH funding. Men had greater h-index (16 vs. 9, p < 0.001) and w-RCR (51.8 vs. 23.0, p < 0.001), but not m-RCR (1.3 vs. 1.3, p = 0.269) than women. Higher academic rank was associated with greater h-index and w-RCR (p < 0.001). Among assistant professors, men had greater h-index than women (9.0 vs. 8.0, p = 0.025). At career duration 11-20 years, men had greater h-index (14.0 vs. 8.0, p = 0.009) and w-RCR (52.7 vs. 25.8, p = 0.022) than women. The h-index has a strong relationship with NIH funding in academic otology. Similar h-index, m-RCR, and w-RCR between men and women across most academic ranks and career durations suggests production of similarly impactful research. The m-RCR may correct some deficiencies of time-dependent bibliometrics and its consideration in academic promotion and research funding allocation may promote representation of women in otology. N/A Laryngoscope, 134:3786-3794, 2024.