The Academy’s NIH Ranking Task Force:
The NIH funding to diagnostic radiology has been reported annually since the early 90’s by Stanley Baum, MD. This information is tracked and shared by the Academy to show the amount of federal funding from the NIH that goes to diagnostic radiology as well as how much of that funding is allocated across Radiology Departments. Shown below is a chart depicting the history of this funding as reported by Dr. Baum between 1985 and 2017 (note the outlying increase in 2010 as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). The raw data received from the NIH includes information on grants awarded to Principal Investigators (PI) with primary appointments in a Radiology Department at a US Medical School.
- The raw NIH data lists grants at Radiology Departments which are part of a University. Some NIH grants go through a Hospital, Foundation and not a University and therefore not on the initial list. The Chairs of Radiology at these Institutions ,i.e. MGH, BWH, Sloan Kettering, etc. are contacted to gather that information independently.
- The raw data is sorted as it often contains duplicate or sometimes incorrect information.
- The raw data from NIH includes grants in Radiation Oncology. Those grants are removed. However, grant applicants sometimes incorrectly categorize the grant under Radiation Oncology when it should be under Radiology. A manual review of all grants is made to address and correct such errors.
- Identification is made of all PI’s in Radiology Departments who perform their research outside of the Hospital or University. These grants will have their indirect costs flow through the VA, ACR, etc., and therefore are not on the original list. These grants are added.
- Sub-contracts and contracts are not included since all of this information is not available until late summer. This is generally about 3% of total amount.
- Multiple Principle Investigators (MPIs) are included only if the Contact PI is in another Department. Otherwise the grant would be counted 2 or more times for the same Institution.
- For reference, the Blue Ridge Report, from the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, does not separate Radiation Oncology and they do not include the independent hospitals with Radiology Departments.