Surgeon-scientists reap small share of U.S. research grants

Though 30% of the global disease burden is treatable through surgery, less than 2% of U.S. researchers who receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are surgeon-scientists, a new Yale-led study finds.

Researchers analyzed data from project grants between 1995 and 2020 and found that, while the number of NIH-funded researchers affiliated with surgical departments and total funding to researchers increased over that period, increases in grants and funding largely went to PhD scientists in surgery departments, not surgeon-scientists with an MD or MD-PhD.

“We know the patients and we know the research, and we can bring the two together,” said Alan Dardik, MD, professor of surgery at Yale School of Medicine and senior author on the study. “Most surgeon-scientists will invent what we do in 10 to 15 years. So it’s really about the future of health care and how we can do better for our patients.”