Aiming to sustain and support the career paths of physician-scientists, the ASCI seeks to fully endow our newly established Impact Fund. We hope you will join us in supporting the future of the physician-scientist workforce, for the continued strength of the United States innovation ecosystem and for the benefit of patients everywhere.
Background: The ASCI’s mission is to support the scientific efforts, educational needs, and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists to improve the health of all people. Few organizations are singularly focused on the critical role of physician-scientists in research, clinical care, and medical education — and yet physician-scientists are essential to the United States biomedical enterprise.(1) Over the last 4 decades physician-scientists comprised:
- 60% of National Academy of Sciences members (Biomedical Sciences section); and
- 70% of Chief Scientific Officers at top biopharmaceutical companies.(1)
Concerningly, the physician-scientist workforce has both declined and aged over the last several years. The current total number of NIH-funded physician-scientists in the United States is ~8,000 and dropping every year.(2) Significant attrition at early career stages renders our pipeline vulnerable to collapse.
To specifically address attrition at the early stages of the physician-scientist pipeline, the ASCI has piloted early-career programs dedicated to:
- providing funding via the ASCI Postbaccalaureate Program and ASCI PSSF Fellowships, and the Emerging-Generation and Young Physician-Scientist Awards;
- strengthening ties within the network of near-peer and established physician-scientists at the Annual Meeting and beyond; and
- offering a two-year curriculum of leadership development and networking programs specifically designed for young physician-scientists.
The Impact Fund: Given the growing success and expanding reach of these programs, the ASCI is committed to cementing these efforts through the ASCI Impact Fund. This endowed fund will secure access to our early-career programs in perpetuity, in service of our foundational mission to support the careers of physician-scientists to improve health for all.
(1) National Academy of Medicine. 2024. The State of the U.S. Biomedical and Health Research Enterprise: Strategies for Achieving a Healthier America. The National Academies Press.
(2) Utz PJ, et al. Translating science to medicine: the case for physician-scientists. Sci Transl Med. 2022;14(632):eabg7852. https://doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.abg7852.