Universities are under pressure to increase external research funding, and some federal agencies offer programs to expand research capacity in certain kinds of institutions. However, conflicts within faculty roles and other aspects of university operations influence the effectiveness of particular strategies for increasing research activity. We…

This paper examines shifts in the knowledge production policy agenda at Japanese research universities -- a transition from discipline-based academic tradition towards interdisciplinary forms of knowledge production -- through a case study of a leading interdisciplinary research institute. We examine this transition through the case of Tohoku…

Public funding for biomedical research is often justified as a means to encourage development of more (and better) treatments for disease. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between these expenditures and downstream pharmaceutical innovation. In particular, although recent analyses have shown a clear contribution of federally…

These are interesting days in the scientific, social, and political debates about human embryonic stem cell research. Pluripotent stem cells--cells that can, in principle, give rise to the body's full range of cell types--were previously derivable only from human embryos that were destroyed in the process. Now, a variety of somatic cell types can…

This study shows that the number of autism research grants funded in the US from 1997 to 2006 significantly increased 15% per year. Although the majority of projects were concentrated in basic science (65%) compared to clinical (15%) and translational research (20%), there is a significant decrease in the proportion of basic research grants per…

Universities have much to contribute to the improvement of health delivery, research, and teaching/learning. In progressing health reform, the Government should be mindful of the need to: (1) strengthen high quality medical research; (2) promote translation of research to teaching, population health and health services; and (3) address Health…

ScanGrants (www.scangrants.com) is a free, online listing of grants, scholarships, and other types of funding in the health sciences. It is basically a launch pad for anyone looking for money to fund medical research or community/public health projects, or to finance their education in various healthcare fields. The goal is to enable researchers,…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are seeking to improve communications with the academic community, to utilize the NIH advisory apparatus more effectively in the development of NIH programs, and to develop uniform policies with specific criteria for selecting grants to fund extramural research. (Editor/PG)

Relying upon grant-supported salaries, many medical schools have greatly expanded their faculties; but if new funding devices are not discovered, retrenchment will occur. Physicians, who are trained to look at the big picture, must continue to be an essential element in the biomedical research team. (MLW)

Philip Handler, President of the National Academy of Sciences, feels that the Nixon administration's budget may drive academic biomedical research into chaos. (Author/PG)

While comparisons are difficult, Sweden's socialized health care delivery system produces superior health results when compared with the United States, and its concentration on optimization of cost-benefit ratios, with centralized research, planning, and resource aid, presents concepts the U.S. could adopt while maintaining free-enterprise…

This article discusses the ethical issues involved in research on human "in vitro" fertilization, laboratory experimentation with human embryos, and the intrauterine transfer of such embryos for the purpose of assisting human reproduction. (Author/MC)

Federal aids provided for training in biomedical research may be stopped. Scientists are pressing for continuation by persuading the administration and possibly winning legislators' support. (PS)