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. 2018 Aug;106(2):602-607.
doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2018.02.029. Epub 2018 Mar 14.

Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons Achieve High Rates of K Award Conversion Into R01 Funding

Adishesh K Narahari  1 , J Hunter Mehaffey  1 , Robert B Hawkins  1 , Pranav K Baderdinni  1 , Anirudha S Chandrabhatla  1 , Curtis G Tribble  1 , Irving L Kron  1 , Mark E Roeser  1 , Dustin M Walters  1 , Gorav Ailawadi  2
Affiliations

Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons Achieve High Rates of K Award Conversion Into R01 Funding

Adishesh K Narahari et al. Ann Thorac Surg. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Obtaining National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 funding remains extremely difficult. The utility of career development grants (K awards) for achieving the goal of R01 funding remains debated, particularly for surgeon-scientists. We examined the success rate for cardiothoracic and vascular (CTV) surgeons compared with other specialties in converting K-level grants into R01 equivalents.

Methods: All K (K08 and K23) grants awarded to surgeons by the NIH between 1992 and 2017 were identified through NIH Research Portfolio Online Report Tools (RePORTER), an online database combining funding, publications, and patents. Only grants awarded to CTV surgeons were included. Grants active within the past year were excluded. Mann-Whitney U tests and χ2 tests were used to compare groups.

Results: During this period, 62 K grants were awarded to CTV surgeons. The analysis excluded 16 grants that were still active within the last year. Twenty-two (48%) of the remaining K awardees successfully transitioned to an R01 or equivalent grant. Awardees with successful conversion published nine publications per K grant compared with four publications for those who did not convert successfully (p = 0.01). The median time for successful conversion to an R grant was 5.0 years after the K award start date. Importantly, the 10-year conversion rate to R01 was equal for CTV surgeons compared with other clinician-investigators (52.6% vs 42.5%).

Conclusions: CTV surgeons have an equal 10-year conversion rate to the first R01 award compared with other clinicians. These data suggest that NIH achieves a good return on investment when funding CTV surgeon-scientists with K-level funding.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
CONSORT style diagram of K award recipients. A total of 62 CTV K awards were identified with 22 obtaining successful R01 award (or equivalent) conversion. Of the 62 awards, 40 did not obtain R01 award (or equivalent) conversion. Of the 40 with no successful conversion, 16 awards were active within the last 12 months and were therefore excluded to leave 24 K awardees with no R01 award conversion. One award was excluded from the R01 award conversion group due to academic misconduct, which led to a successful R01 award conversion group of 21 with all 21 candidates obtaining R01-level funding within 10 years. Of the 24 unsuccessful K awardees, 7 awardees have not crossed the 10-year mark from the start of their K award but 17 have surpassed that threshold. Six of the 7 awardees that have not passed the 10-year mark are now in private practice compared to 1 of the 17 awardees that have passed the 10-year mark.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Kaplan-Meyer curve of the time to conversion of K awardees (n = 38). Unsuccessful K awardees who have not crossed the 10-year mark of obtaining their K award are not included. The median time to R01 award conversion for successful K to R01 converters is 5.00 years.
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Comment in

  • Invited Commentary.
    Yang B. Yang B. Ann Thorac Surg. 2018 Aug;106(2):608. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2018.03.033. Epub 2018 Apr 16. Ann Thorac Surg. 2018. PMID: 29673636 No abstract available.

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