The 2015 analysis produced many insights into the current state of funding for rheumatology research. Over the past five years, the rheumatology community received 8,037 awards, representing 1.99% of total funds distributed by the NIH. Between 2010 and 2014, 12 private foundations awarded 744 grants to 642 rheumatology investigators totaling $143,743,757. For the first time, we have direct knowledge about the funding landscape in rheumatology.
The comprehensive report, titled, Funding for Academic Rheumatology Research and Training FY 2010–2014, may be accessed on the Foundation website.
Working with Stakeholders
Through the ACR COR and Foundation, the ACR builds and maintains working relationships with various stakeholders in the rheumatology research community.
NIH Relations: You may not know that the NIH has a seat at the table of the ACR COR. This committee includes a staff member from both the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), who serve as invited guests at all COR meetings. NIAMS and NIAID are the major sources of funding for rheumatology researchers. Representatives from these NIH institutes periodically provide updates to the ACR Board of Directors. Members of COR, in turn, meet regularly with leadership of NIH institutes to identify new funding opportunities, exchange ideas and discuss ways to better meet the research needs of the rheumatology community.
‘The Committee on Research is focusing on ways to improve funding to support innovative clinical, basic and translational research. Although times are challenging, we are making efforts to attract the best and brightest young researchers into rheumatology & help them have productive careers.’ —S. Louis Bridges Jr., MD, PhD, Chair of the ACR Committee on Research
Most recently, on May 13, S. Louis Bridges Jr., MD, PhD, ACR COR chair; Susan Boackle, MD, ACR COR member; and ACR staff met with representatives from NIAID and NIAMS. During the meeting with NIAID, Daniel Rotrosen, MD, director of the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation (DAIT), provided valuable insights on funding trends and offered recommendations for rheumatology researchers. He told us about the decline in R01 applications and funded proposals and explained that the decrease in awarded R01s is partly due to increasing average direct costs of awarded R01s (increasing from approximately $310,000–410,000 per year). He dispelled the oft-held belief that grant applications exceeding the limit for modular budgets ($250,000/year) receive less favorable scores than those within this limit and recommended that investigators submit grants that support high-quality research with well-justified, nonmodular budgets. In addition, NIAID is funding a large number of R21 grants and is also interested in receiving grant applications for clinical trials (R01 and U01), with accompanying mechanistic studies. NIAID encourages investigators applying for grants to contact program officers for more details and advice.
