Presentations

Abstract

Introduction:

Medical students interested in a research-driven career often face barriers to opportunities at an institutional level. Limited funding, availability of faculty mentors, and number of research facilities at their school are some barriers to scientific research experiences. The goal of this project is to assess gaps in neuroscience research opportunities for medical students in the Tidewater region of Virginia compared to other regions that are associated with medical schools across the state.

Additionally, we identify students with an interest in medical neuroscience-related fields (neurology, neurosurgery etc). Publications indicate that early exposure through structured specific research contributes to increased workforces in its respective field of study. Overall, it contributes to improved patient care, diagnostics, and therapies.

Neuroscience research is an important part of medical education and may help alleviate the burden of neurological conditions. There are over 150,000 individuals with Alzheimer's and roughly 85,000 living with epilepsy in the state of Virginia. Stroke can be catastrophic to neurological health and is the 5th leading cause of death in the state. A workforce of physician-scientists focused on diseases of the nervous system is vital to improving therapies available to patients affected by these conditions.

Methods:

The NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) was queried for NIH awards provided to medical schools in Virginia for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 fiscal years. This was limited to awards that fell under "Research Project Grants", "Research Centers", "Other Research-related", and "R and D contracts". Additionally, only awards that were granted to the School of Medicine for the corresponding institution were included in the analysis. Data abstracted included region, institution, project title, funding amount, department, and funding mechanism. Total funding for the fiscal year was calculated for each school. The number of neuroscience-related projects was assessed by screening project titles and abstracts. Student interest was assessed using data available from abstracts, publications, and presentations that have come from faculty and students at EVMS. Data on data neurological disease prevalence, incidence, and healthcare burden in Virginia was also included. Scholarly productivity was measured by PI publication count during the years of interest. PIs receiving NIH awards from 2020-2023 were selected at various institutions across Virginia. The publication rate of these PIs was compared to that of those that did not have documented NIH funding during this period.

Results:

Schools with greater total NIH funding received more awards related to neuroscience research. At schools with greater total NIH funding, structured medical student research programs were common, and scholarly productivity was increased. Scholarly productivity and student engagement are increasing in neuroscience labs at EVMS, with many faculty involving both medical and graduate students in publications and presentations.

Conclusions:

Additional NIH or similar funding is an important factor in providing opportunities for medical students to produce research. EVMS has an existing body of faculty and students highly interested in neuroscience research. Additional funding and a structured research program would aid in expanding these efforts and, hopefully, encourage students to enter careers in medical neurosciences where they can address limitations in treatments and diagnostics as physician-scientists.