NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. In this, the Institute acts under both the Academy’s 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an advisor to the federal government and its own initiative in identifying issues of medical care, research, and education.
This project (Evaluation Project No. NIH 88–310 for Contract Number NO1-OD-8-2104) received support from the evaluation set-aside Section 513, Public Health Service Act.
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IOM 88-08
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
COMMITTEE TO STUDY STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN THE SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH INTRAMURAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
HAROLD T.SHAPIRO, (Chairman), President,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.
MICHAEL S.BROWN,* Professor of Genetics,
University of Texas Health Science Center, Dallas, Texas.
JOHN T.DUNLOP,* Lamont University Professor, Emeritus,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
GERALD D.FISCHBACH, Chairman of Anatomy and Neurobiology,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.
MARIAN E.KOSHLAND, Professor and Chair,
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Berkeley, California.
CHARLOTTE V.KUH, Executive Director,
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey.
ROBERT I.LEVY,* President and Chief Executive Officer,
Sandoz Research Institute, East Hanover, New Jersey.
WALTER E.MASSEY, Vice President for Research and for Argonne National Laboratory,
The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
ROBERT G.PETERSDORF,* President,
Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C.
PAUL GRANT ROGERS,* Partner,
Hogan & Hartson, Washington, D.C.
BENNO C.SCHMIDT,* Managing Partner,
J.H.Whitney & Company, New York, New York.
LLOYD H.SMITH,* Associate Dean and Professor of Medicine,
University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
ELMER B.STAATS, Former U.S. Comptroller General,
Washington, D.C.
P.ROY VAGELOS,* Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Merck and Company, Rahway, New Jersey.
STUDY STAFF
RUTH ELLEN BULGER, Director,
Division of Health Sciences Policy
MICHAEL L.MILIMAN, Study Director
JESSICA TOWNSEND, Associate Study Director
CARLOTTA C.MOLITOR, Research Associate
WALLACE K.WATERFALL, Editor,
Institute of Medicine
CONSULTANTS
ALAN L.DEAN
MICHAEL FINN
HELEN HOFER GEE
HAROLD SEIEMAN
ROBERT A.WALKINGTON
FIGURES
Figure I-1 |
NIH Organizational Chart |
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Figure 3-1 |
U.S. and Foreign Fellows, 1983 and 1988 |
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Figure 3-2 |
Attrition Rates 1983–1987 for Tenured M.D.s and Ph.D.s |
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Figure 3-3 |
Salaries for M.D.s and Ph.D.s, 1987, NIH vs Academic Centers, |
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Figure 4-1 |
NBS Personnel Management Demonstration Project |
TABLES
Table I-1 |
NIH Obligations by Institute 1977–1987 |
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Table 2-1 |
Percent Papers Among Most Highly Cited 10 Percent |
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Table 2-2 |
Ratio Intramural to Academic Average Citations Per Paper |
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Table 3-1a |
Personnel Systems Under Which NIH Tenured Scientists Are Employed |
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Table 3-1b |
Salary Rates for Permanent NIH Scientists Under the General Schedule and Senior Executive Service |
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Table 3-2 |
NIH Fellows by Title and Degree as of End of Fiscal Years 1983–1988 |
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Table 3-3 |
Non-Tenured Intramural Employment |
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Table 3-4 |
Time Line for Trainees at NIH |
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Table 3-5 |
NIH Medical Staff Fellowship Program Statistics, 1977–1988 |
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Table 3-6a |
Rates of Conversion of NIH Staff Fellows to Permanent GS and CO Appointments |
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Table 3-6b |
Conversions of NIH Fellows to Full-Time Permanent Appointments in General Schedule (GS/GM), Commissioned Corps (CO) Positions. Fiscal Years 1983–1987 |
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Table 3-7 |
Grades Within Senior Investigator Category |
Table 3-8 |
Selected Employment Data for Current Full-Time Permanent NIH Tenured Scientists in Intramural Positions by Grade, 1983–1988 |
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Table 3-9 |
Selected Employment Data for Full-Time Permanent NIH Tenured Scientists Who Left NIH Intramural Positions by Grade, Fiscal Years 1983–1987 |
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Table 3-10 |
Attrition of NIH Full-Time Permanent Tenured Scientists (M.D.s and Ph.D.s) in Intramural Positions by Grade, Fiscal Years 1983–1987 |
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Table 3-11 |
Appointments of Scientists to NIH Intramural Positions by Grade and Degree. Fiscal Years 1983–1987 |
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Table 3-12 |
Appointment of Scientists to NIH Intramural Programs. Distribution by Grade. 1983–1987 |
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Table 3-13 |
Comparative Salaries of Research Scientists |
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Table 3-14 |
Change in Average Annual Salaries Reported by Doctorates at NIH in 1981 by Type of Employer in 1987 |
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Table 3-15 |
Comparison of Physician Compensation: NIH and American Medical Schools |
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Table 3-16 |
Comparison of Ph.D. Pay: NIH and American Medical Schools |
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Table 3-17 |
Allied Health Specialists Salary Comparison—Washington, D.C. Area. January 1988 |
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The committee appreciates the cooperation and assistance it received from many individuals and organizations. Space prevents acknowledging them all, although every input contributed to the overall report. A few warrant special mention.
More than 50 organizations and individuals (Appendix A) provided testimony to the committee regarding the NIH Intramural Program within a very brief timeframe; we offer them each our thanks.
The National Institutes of Health responded to our many requests for data. We would like to thank Philip S.Chen, Associate Director for Intramural Affairs; Richard G.Wyatt, Special Assistant for Intramural Affairs; Kurt Habel, Chief, Program Planning Branch; John D.Mahoney, Associate Director for Administration; Norman D.Mansfield; Director, Division of Financial Management; and Robert T.Dillon, Chief, Staffing Management Branch, Division of Personnel Management, and his staff. Our thanks extend to the other NIH staff who generously provided insights for the committee, and especially to Sean Donohue, Office of Science Policy and Legislation, Program Planning Branch, who, by facilitating our many requests, smoothed project progress.
Bradie Methany, Coordinator of the Delegation for Basic Biomedical Research, offered direction leading to staff interviews with private biomedical research laboratories, while Susan Racca, Director of Special Projects, Industrial Biotechnology Association, provided yet other insights into this sector.
Representatives of a number of the nation’s most prestigious postdoctoral fellowships gave generously of their time for interviews: The American Cancer Society, Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer, Helen Hay Whitney, Jane Coffin Childs, Leukemia Society of America, Markey Charitable Trust, and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Foundation, Inc.
A very special acknowledgement must go to Jean M.Haddock, Manager, American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), who through a major effort made possible a survey of the more than 2,000 ASCI members, to which its membership responded overwhelmingly. Lynn Morrison, Director for Public Policy, American Federation for Clinical Research, provided the committee with additional perspectives.
Paul Jolly, Associate Vice President for Operational Studies, Association of American Medical Colleges, provided valuable data. Mark Abramson, Executive Director, Center for Excellence in Government, offered his observations.
Among the staff of government agencies who shared their experiences with the IOM staff and committee, we wish to recognize Harold J.Reese, Chief, Labor Management Relations and Staff Services, National Bureau of Standards (presently the National Institute of Standards and Technology) ; Kenneth E.Kinnamon, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Charles Levine, Deputy Director of the National Commission on the Public Service; William M.Tolles, Associate Director of Research, Strategic Planning, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.; and Sheldon B. Clark, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Labor and Policy Studies Program; Manpower, Education, Research, and Training Division, Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
Harold T.Shapiro
Chairman
Committee to Study Strategies to Strengthen the Scientific Excellence of the NIH Intramural Research Program