Urologic Diseases Research Updates
Spring/Summer 2007

NIDDK Plan Underway to Promote Urologic Research

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) convened a meeting with leaders of the urologic community—scientists, clinicians, department chairs, and deans—academic leaders from related fields outside urology, NIDDK program and review staff, and American Urological Association (AUA) representatives to discuss barriers to urologic research and possible solutions.

NIDDK funding for urologic research is declining more quickly than other NIDDK programs, according to Robert Star, M.D., acting director of the NIDDK Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases. Few new investigators are entering the field, and better-paying patient care jobs are drawing clinicians away from research.

In addition, there is not enough translation of basic science findings into clinical studies and clinical findings back to the laboratory. New ways are needed to stimulate the quality and quantity of basic and clinical urologic research and to promote research resources development—tools, models, and databases—to provide a foundation for initiating new urologic projects.

“What we’re hearing,” said Star, “is that these problems have been around a long time. They have not been addressed at a systems level—only piecemeal by various groups.”

For example, the NIDDK’s career development grants, or K awards, allowed urologic surgeons to have 50 percent, rather than the typical 75 percent, minimum protected research time so they could keep up their surgical skills. Although essential, this policy change had limited success because other parts of the system were not changed simultaneously.

The participants discussed a shared vision—to create a vibrant, sustainable urologic research and training community that efficiently translates basic research and clinical discoveries to solve critically important benign urologic public health needs. This shared vision will take time and coordination to achieve.

Finding Solutions

Group members spent 2 days addressing this challenging mission by developing specific recommendations to improve recruitment and retention of researchers and to advance the evidence base for the care of people with urologic diseases. The specific recommendations included

• expand and formalize training and mentoring programs across departments and institutions
• approach potential researchers earlier in their careers
• put greater value on research by clinicians in academic departments
• offer joint appointments
• establish multidisciplinary centers of excellence and clinical trial networks that include a training component
• expand and increase the flexibility of training and loan repayment programs
• help basic researchers understand the potential clinical relevance of their work and increase interactions between clinicians and scientists
• change certification board requirements to reflect divergent career paths in urology
• open AUA membership to other specialists and give research presentations higher priority at meetings
• identify and invest in high-priority public health problems and speak with one voice to secure research resources

Next Steps

Participants agreed that close collaborative teamwork with the NIDDK, the AUA, academic training programs, and universities will be necessary to facilitate and promote urologic research into the future. The NIDDK is actively working on several research, training, and mentoring initiatives for 2008 and 2009. The Institute is preparing a Request for Applications to recompete O’Brien Urology Centers, which will be responsive to recommendations for fostering multidisciplinary and translational research.

The NIDDK also is considering changes to National Institutes of Health training and career development awards to better prepare urologic researchers for multidisciplinary studies and will attempt to strengthen the NIDDK/AUA Surgeon-Scientist Awards program, of which the first award was made last fall. The awards, developed to help urologic researchers offset their debt from medical, surgical, and residency training, offer up to 5 years of salary supplementation to researchers who have competed successfully for NIDDK career development funding.

At the summit, institutional representatives indicated the need to rethink traditional department-based research and training programs. The group is encouraging institutions to consider ways to create a culture that values research and rewards discovery, allows both M.D. and Ph.D. researchers to flourish, and facilitates multidisciplinary collaborations across departments and institutions, perhaps via formal meetings or registries of scientists and their research interests.

Participants also discussed ways to create new training programs that alter the timing of research training, match trainees to well-crafted mentorship teams, and reward research training with continued financial support. In addition, group members proposed that faculty at all levels help recruit students at early stages of undergraduate and graduate education for careers in urology.

The group is expected to meet again within the year to develop additional innovative programs, using the joint efforts of the NIDDK, along with the AUA and universities, to promote the future of urologic research.

For more information about NIDDK career development and training, visit www2.niddk.nih.gov/Funding/TrainingCareerDev.

NIH Publication No. 07–5743
June 2007

[Top]