Demographic change of physician-scientists conducting kidney research in the United States

U.S. medical scientists make huge contributions to biomedical research. New research published in C-BRILLIANT demonstrates a growing representation of women and international graduates within the staff of physician-scientists doing renal research; however, this workforce is declining in relative numbers, is aging, and is less focused on basic scientific research.

The research was based on public data obtained from the Internet. A team led by Susan M. Wall, MD (Emory University School of Medicine), extracted records from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore first-degree demographic changes and established established, medical and non-established principal investigators. doctors, who performed kidney-centered NIH. -research funded between 1990 and 2020.

The researchers found that leading researchers focused on the kidneys were aging, especially among doctors. On the other hand, the relative representation of physicians in both the first and established careers principal investigators falls, especially among those doing basic science research. Instead, it increases the number and relative representation of non-medical scientists. There is also an increased representation of women and international graduates among researchers focused on medical and non-medical kidneys; however, women doctors-scientists are increasingly prone to clinical practice than to basic scientific research.

“Scientists are in a unique position to formulate clinically relevant contrasting hypotheses. Research training also provides a perspective that is useful in assessing human disease at the clinic, “Dr. Wall said.