An analysis of NIH research funding in emergency medicine

Objective

The purpose of this study was threefold. We sought to: 1) determine the total dollar amount of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding received by Emergency Medicine (EM) researchers; 2) determine the relative proportion and ranking of monies awarded compared to the total; and 3) to compare NIH funding received by EM to the select specialties of Neurology, Anesthesiology, Surgery, Orthopedics, and Obstetrics-Gynecology (OBGYN) for the years 2006–2024.

Methods

We performed a repeated cross-sectional analysis of NIH funding garnered by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) from the publicly available NIH RePORTER database. The BRIMR has tabulated data on the amount of NIH funding awarded to medical specialties and biomedical sciences received from 2006 to 2024, as well as their respective rankings for each year. Total dollar amount awarded to EM, Neurology, Anesthesiology, Surgery, Orthopedics, and OB/GYN and their relative rankings were identified, as was the proportion of total monies awarded by year.

Results

EM ranked last in funding compared to all specialties in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and climbed to 47th percentile by 2024. Every year, less than 1 % of funding was awarded to EM, whereas neurology was awarded 3.40 %–5.71 %. Compared to Neurology, Anesthesiology, Surgery, Orthopedics, and OB/GYN, EM ranked the lowest in total funding in all years except 2023 and 2024 in which only orthopedics ranked lower. Not included in our analysis is Internal Medicine, who received the most funding every single year, and was awarded $5.3 billion in 2024 while EM was awarded $159 million in 2024.

Conclusion

NIH funding varies substantially between specialties. EM has consistently experienced very low NIH funding (never exceeding 1 % of total) compared to other specialties with which they commonly interact.