Inequity in National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Fellowships, 2001-2020

TY - JOUR

T1 - Inequity in National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Fellowships, 2001-2020

AU - Nguyen, Mytien

AU - Nguyen, Nghia D.

AU - Chaudhry, Sarwat I.

AU - Desai, Mayur M.

AU - Cavazos, Jose E.

AU - Boatright, Dowin

N1 - Funding Information: In the last 2 decades, there has been a disproportionate growth of general NIH predoctoral F31 fellowships compared with diversity F31 fellowships despite an initial equal investment in general and diversity F31 fellowships, with a 90% greater increase for general F31 fellowship compared with diversity F31 fellowships. This widening gap may be reflective of a slower growth of applicants to diversity F31 fellowships, a decrease in award rate, or that underrepresented applicants are applying to the general rather than diversity F31 or are supported by other award mechanisms within or outside of the NIH. This study is limited by lack of data on numbers of applicants to F31 fellowships and personal information of applicants, which warrants future study. Underrepresented biomedical science trainees face many challenges and barriers in their academic pursuits, including discrimination, racism, and lack of mentorship.3 Prestigious NIH fellowships, like the NRSA F31 fellowship, facilitate a path toward early career success for underrepresented trainees, increasing trainee’s likelihood of PhD completion, postdoctoral funding, and application to major research grants.6 Our data suggests that early gaps in predoctoral fellowships to underrepresented biomedical scientists may contribute to future inequity in research funding and career advancement. Funding Information: Although a diverse biomedical workforce leads to more research innovation and productivity,1 Black, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native trainees made up only 7.7%, 7.8%, and 0.5% of all doctoral degree recipients in 2019, respectively.2 Recognizing the importance of predoctoral training in students’ eventual pursuit of an academic career, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides considerable support for predoctoral trainees3,4 in the form of T32 traineeship, research assistantships, and individual fellowship (eg, the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award [NRSA] F31). Unlike traineeships and research assistantships, fellowships are awarded to individual students, are assigned to study sections, and undergo the rigorous NIH peer review process. NIH fellowship recipients are more likely to receive future research funding and

PY - 2022/10/26

Y1 - 2022/10/26

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140856448&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85140856448&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.38600

DO - 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.38600

M3 - Article

C2 - 36287568

AN - SCOPUS:85140856448

SN - 2574-3805

VL - 5

SP - E2238600

JO - JAMA network open

JF - JAMA network open

IS - 10

ER -