TY - JOUR
T1 - A roadmap of strategies to support cardiovascular researchers
T2 - from policy to practice
AU - Chapman, Niamh
AU - Thomas, Emma E.
AU - Tan, Joanne T.M.
AU - Inglis, Sally C.
AU - Wu, Jason H.Y.
AU - Climie, Rachel E.
AU - Picone, Dean S.
AU - Blekkenhorst, Lauren C.
AU - Wise, Steven G.
AU - Mirabito Colafella, Katrina M.
AU - Calkin, Anna C.
AU - Marques, Francine Z.
N1 - Funding Information:
EMCR-specific seed funding is invaluable in establishing job independence and collaborative research. Existing funding schemes could be redesigned to promote cross-disciplinary collaborations, support EMCR-only or EMCR-majority teams, encourage clinician–scientist collaborations, and stipulate mandatory inclusion of an EMCR as part of the principal investigator team or even as a co-lead investigator. Although some grant schemes focus on funding EMCRs, such as the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) programme and the European Research Council starting grants (for early-career researchers) and consolidator grants (for mid-career researchers), these funding schemes target only individual researchers, rather than promote collaborations or team-based research. An innovative training programme called MINDSHIFT , funded by the European Commission for the years 2021–2026, aims to promote an interdisciplinary research programme across Europe to bridge knowledge gaps in hypertension research. This funding model could be adapted elsewhere in the world to improve collaborative efforts. Another important aspect of cardiovascular research is engagement with patients, who are experts by experience and can improve the relevance and applicability of research. Facilitating connections between patients and EMCRs would increase awareness about the barriers faced by patients and their families, and cardiovascular researchers, and improve study design and effectiveness. ,
Funding Information:
The authors thank the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA) Board for their support and acknowledge that the authors were members of the ACvA Emerging Leaders Committee at the time this paper was written. The authors acknowledge the supporting roles of the ACvA President G. Figtree, ACvA Chief Executive Officer K. Doyle and ACvA Project Officer M.-P. Hsu in the facilitation of this initiative. Finally, the authors acknowledge the following international cardiovascular researchers for their honest and generous feedback: M. Bertagnolli (McGill University, Canada), E. Bianchini (Institute of Clinical Physiology, Italy), D. Casarini (Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil), L. Gafane-Matamane (North-West University, South Africa), A. Kirabo (Vanderbilt University, USA), C. McCarthy (University of South Carolina, USA), A. Montezano (University of Glasgow, UK) and M. Patel (India Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Association, India). E.T. (105215), S.C.I. (102821), R.E.C. (102484), D.S.P. (104774), L.B. (102498), S.G.W. (105622), A.C.C. (105631) and F.Z.M. (101185, 105663) are funded by fellowships from the National Heart Foundation of Australia. The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia supports K.M.M.C. through a C.J. Martin Fellowship (1112125) and L.B. through an Emerging Leader Investigator Grant (1172987). F.Z.M. is also supported by a Senior Medical Research Fellowship from the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular research has therefore never been more crucial. Cardiovascular researchers must be provided with a research environment that enables them to perform at their highest level, maximizing their opportunities to work effectively with key stakeholders to address this global issue. At present, cardiovascular researchers face a range of challenges and barriers, including a decline in funding, job insecurity and a lack of diversity at senior leadership levels. Indeed, many cardiovascular researchers, particularly women, have considered leaving the sector, highlighting a crucial need to develop strategies to support and retain researchers working in the cardiovascular field. In this Roadmap article, we present solutions to problems relevant to cardiovascular researchers worldwide that are broadly classified across three key areas: capacity building, research funding and fostering diversity and equity. This Roadmap provides opportunities for research institutions, as well as governments and funding bodies, to implement changes from policy to practice, to address the most important factors restricting the career progression of cardiovascular researchers.
AB - Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular research has therefore never been more crucial. Cardiovascular researchers must be provided with a research environment that enables them to perform at their highest level, maximizing their opportunities to work effectively with key stakeholders to address this global issue. At present, cardiovascular researchers face a range of challenges and barriers, including a decline in funding, job insecurity and a lack of diversity at senior leadership levels. Indeed, many cardiovascular researchers, particularly women, have considered leaving the sector, highlighting a crucial need to develop strategies to support and retain researchers working in the cardiovascular field. In this Roadmap article, we present solutions to problems relevant to cardiovascular researchers worldwide that are broadly classified across three key areas: capacity building, research funding and fostering diversity and equity. This Roadmap provides opportunities for research institutions, as well as governments and funding bodies, to implement changes from policy to practice, to address the most important factors restricting the career progression of cardiovascular researchers.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85130137930
U2 - 10.1038/s41569-022-00700-1
DO - 10.1038/s41569-022-00700-1
M3 - Review Article
C2 - 35577952
AN - SCOPUS:85130137930
SN - 1759-5002
VL - 19
SP - 765
EP - 777
JO - Nature Reviews Cardiology
JF - Nature Reviews Cardiology
IS - 11
ER -
