Reviving the vascular surgeon–scientist: An interim assessment of the jointly sponsored Lifeline Foundation/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute William J. von Liebig Mentored Clinical Scientist Development (K08) Program
Received 18 January 2007; accepted 16 February 2007.
The Lifeline Foundation/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute William J. von Liebig Mentored Clinical Scientist Development (K08) Award program was established as a unique partnership to support vascular surgeon–scientists. Between 1999 and 2005, 39 applications were submitted, and the overall funding rate was 49% (14 von Liebig K08s and 5 additional NHLBI K08s). Vascular surgeon K08 recipients (median age, 38 years) had held faculty appointments for 2.5 ± 0.4 years, with 2.6 ± 0.2 years of previous research experience and 28.4 ± 6.2 publications. These individuals subsequently authored 5.1 ± 0.8 peer-reviewed publications per recipient per year, of which 35% were research and 65% were clinical. Six of seven holding the K08 over 3 years had received academic promotion, and all five completing the 5-year award had achieved independent investigator status with National Institutes of Health support. The von Liebig K08 program has therefore been an effective vehicle to stimulate research career development in the field of vascular surgery.
aDepartments of Surgery (Section of Vascular Surgery), Radiology, and Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo
bformerly of Research Training and Special Programs Scientific Research Group, Division of Heart and Vascular Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-NIH, Bethesda, Md
cDivision of Vascular Surgery, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY
dDivision of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash
eDivision of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
fDepartment of Surgery, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
gDepartment of Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill.
Correspondence: Robert W. Thompson, MD, Section of Vascular Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, 5101 Queeny Tower, One Barnes-Jewish Hospital Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63110.
Competition of interest: none.
Sponsored by the Research and Education Committee of the American Vascular Association (a Foundation of the Society for Vascular Surgery), the William J. von Liebig Foundation, and the Research Training and Special Programs Scientific Research Group, Division of Heart and Vascular Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
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