(532) Gender Differences in Obstetrics NIH Funding

Thursday, February 9, 2023

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Objective: The objective is to evaluate the distribution across genders of current National Institutes of Health(NIH)-funded studies pertaining to maternal fetal medicine (MFM).

Study Design: This is a cross sectional study in April 2022 that examines projects on the NIH RePORTER website, including “Active Projects” using the keywords "Maternal-Fetal Medicine," “Obstetrics,” and “Perinatology” with all activity codes. The principal investigators (PIs) were further examined for demographic and academic variables from university websites, LinkedIn, and SCOPUS. Data was analyzed using Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests with an ɑ < 0.05.

Results: Out of 609 studies, 368 (60.4%) PIs identified as women, 239 (39.2%) as men, and 2 (0.33%) as they. There was no significant difference between women and men PIs holding R01 grants (40.8% versus 44.8% respectively, p=0.51). However, there was a significant difference between genders holding K grants (men 13.4% vs women 23.6%, p=0.018). Men had higher average funding amounts across their career (men: $34,479,470 vs. women: $13,763,198; p < 0.001) and higher H-indices (men: 34.3 vs. women: 24.9; p < 0.001). On average, women PIs had less time since ending training (16.0 vs 19.25 years, p=0.03). Of the 39 (6.4%) MFM PIs, there were no significant differences between men and women in regards to R01 grants (45.4% vs. 32.1%, p=0.89), K grants (27.3% vs. 39.2%, p=0.403), cumulative career NIH funding ($21,767,182 vs. $13,764,264, p=0.094), or average time since training (11.8 vs. 10.8 years, p=0.97). Men MFM PIs had higher average H-indices than women MFMs (37.2 vs. 18.2, p=0.047). Nationally, 8 academic institutions host the majority (53.4%) of all MFM PIs with an active NIH project with the studied keywords (Figure 1).

Conclusion: While women have more NIH-funded studies than men, they have lower average cumulative funding and H-indices. The disparities seen among all PIs were not seen within MFM physicians, except in regards to H-indices. Gender disparities in funding and publications continue to exist in NIH-funded studies in obstetrics.

Primary & Presenting Author(s)

Lama R. Noureddine, MD (she/her/hers)
Resident PGY4
Stony Brook Medicine
Stony Brook, New York, United States

Coauthor(s)

Cassandra Heiselman, DO, MPH
Clinical Assistant Professor
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York, United States

KR
Kristin Riddle, MD
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Newark, New Jersey, United States

GL
Gabriella Lo Monaco, BS
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York, United States

MF
Mishel Figueroa, MD
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Newark, New Jersey, United States

JB
James Bernasko, MD
Stony Brook University Hospital
Stony Brook, New York, United States