An article published this week in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery looks at the impact receiving certain OREF grants has on an investigator's success in securing subsequent funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The article, “The Relationship Between OREF Grants and Future NIH Funding Success”, was co-authored by Vishal Hegde, MD; Daniel Johansen, BS; Howard Y. Park, MD; Stephen D. Zoller, MD; Christopher Hamad, BS; and Nicholas M. Bernthal, MD, all of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles.
Dr. Bernthal, et al, examined data on selected grants awarded by OREF between 1994 and 2014, including the Career Development Grant (formerly the Career Development Award) and the New Investigator Grant (formerly the Young Investigator Grant). The authors calculated an overall NIH funding rate of 22.3% for OREF grant recipients versus an average national rate of 18% for other NIH applicants. Additionally, OREF Career Development Grant recipients achieved a conversion rate of 46.3%, far surpassing the national rate.
The authors concluded that, “Grants awarded by the OREF are not only important for supporting orthopaedic surgeons during the years they are funded, but also achieve their purpose of identifying and supporting young researchers with the Career Development Award, leading to a NIH funding rate that is nearly triple the 18% national average of successful NIH funding applications.”
OREF president, David G. Lewallen, MD, commented on the significance of the study. “OREF’s grant review program is modeled on the NIH program, which gives us, as well as our individual and corporate donors, great confidence that the caliber of research and investigator being supported is top-notch. The work of Dr. Bernthal and his co-authors validates this confidence and illustrates in a concrete way the value of both the research being funded and the investment being made in OREF by its donors.”
JBJS has also
published a commentary by OREF past president, John J. Callaghan, MD, on the study findings and their relevance to the founding of OREF.
View additional study highlights here.
View the press release.