Work

Racial inequity in grant funding from the US National Institutes of Health

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Biomedical science and federal funding for scientific research are not immune to the systemic racism that pervades American society. A groundbreaking analysis of NIH grant success revealed in 2011 that grant applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health in the US by African-American or Black Principal Investigators (PIs) are less likely to be funded than applications submitted by white PIs, and efforts to narrow this funding gap have not been successful. A follow-up study in 2019 showed that this has not changed. Here, we review those original reports, as well as the response of the NIH to these issues, which we argue has been inadequate. We also make recommendations on how the NIH can address racial disparities in grant funding and call on scientists to advocate for equity in federal grant funding.

Source: eLife

DOI: 10.7554/elife.65697

Authors: Michael A Taffe, Nicholas W Gilpin

Institutions: University of California San Diego, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans

Language: English

Topic: Diversity and Career in Medicine

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,500