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NIH Funding of COVID-19 Research in 2020: a Cross Sectional Study
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2021.
-
Abstract
- ObjectiveThis study aims to characterize and evaluate the NIH’s grant allocation pattern of COVID-19 research.DesignCross sectional studySettingCOVID-19 NIH RePORTER Dataset was used to identify COVID-19 relevant grants.Participants1,108 grants allocated to COVID-19 research.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary outcome was to determine the number of grants and funding amount the NIH allocated for COVID-19 by research type and clinical/scientific area. The secondary outcome was to calculate the time from the funding opportunity announcement to the award notice date.ResultsThe NIH awarded a total of 56,169 grants in 2020, of which 2.0% (n=1,108) were allocated for COVID-19 research. The NIH had a $42 billion budget that year, of which 5.3% ($2.2 billion) was allocated to COVID-19 research. The most common clinical/scientific areas were social determinants of health (n=278, 8.5% of COVID-19 funding), immunology (n=211, 25.8%), and pharmaceutical interventions research (n=208, 47.6%). There were 104 grants studying COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions, of which 2 grants studied the efficacy of face masks and 6 studied the efficacy of social distancing. Of the 83 COVID-19 funded grants on transmission, 5 were awarded to study airborne transmission of COVID-19, and 2 grants on transmission of COVID-19 in schools. The average time from the funding opportunity announcement to the award notice date was 151 days (SD: ±57.9).ConclusionIn the first year of the pandemic, the NIH diverted a small fraction of its budget to COVID-19 research. Future health emergencies will require research funding to pivot in a timely fashion and funding levels to be proportional to the anticipated burden of disease in the population.
Details
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........09268facd92bb9e57e605f9910f84f9f