NIH grants differ 0.1%, 40% between DO, MD colleges

As only 0.1% National Institutes of Health grants are awarded to osteopathic medicine colleges, a national association for such schools is advocating for a stronger research pipeline, according to a report published April 20.

In a first-of-its-kind report, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine tracked current research projects at colleges of osteopathic medicine, as well as their scholarly output and NIH funding. The AACOM calculated a significant difference between NIH funding for allopathic schools, which award Doctor of Medicine degrees, and osteopathic schools, which award Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degrees.

Colleges of osteopathic medicine “receive just 0.1% of NIH grants, in striking comparison to the 40% sent to allopathic schools, and its leaders are markedly underrepresented in NIH decision-making groups, with just three seats held by osteopathic physicians and 213 held by allopathic physicians,” the AACOM said in an April 20 news release about the report.

Five osteopathic colleges account for 60.4% of all institute-level NIH grant applications, the report found. Those include the colleges of osteopathic medicine at Ohio University in Athens, Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., Ohio State University in Columbus, Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., and UNT Health Fort Worth in Texas.

“While 28.3% of [colleges of osteopathic medicine] reported more than 20 NIH applications, certain COMs (15.2%) remain entirely outside the NIH funding ecosystem,” the report said.

The national association for these colleges recommended strategies to expand research capabilities at COMs, including strengthening the research pipeline and more collaboration between schools.

Access the report here.

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