Career trajectories of MD-PhD physician scientists: The loss of women investigators

Richard A Steinman; Lisa M Gandy; Hanfei Qi; Elana J Fertig; Amanda L Blackford; Jennifer R Grandis

doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2024.04.006

Career trajectories of MD-PhD physician scientists: The loss of women investigators

Cancer Cell. 2024 May 13;42(5):723-726. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.04.006. Epub 2024 May 2.

Authors

Richard A Steinman¹, Lisa M Gandy², Hanfei Qi³, Elana J Fertig⁴, Amanda L Blackford³, Jennifer R Grandis⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
² Department of Computer Science, Kettering University, Flint, MI, USA.
³ Division of Quantitative Sciences, Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴ Division of Quantitative Sciences, Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Division of Quantitative Sciences, Department of Oncology, Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁵ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 38701793
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.04.006

Abstract

Advances in biomedical research require a robust physician scientist workforce. Despite being equally successful at securing early career awards from the NIH as men, women MD-PhD physician scientists are less likely to serve as principal investigators on mid- and later careers awards. Here, we discuss the causes of gender disparities in academic medicine, the implications of losing highly trained women physician scientists, and the institutional and systemic changes needed to sustain this pool of talented investigators.

MeSH terms

Awards and Prizes
Biomedical Research*
Career Choice
Career Mobility
Female
Humans
Male
Physicians
Physicians, Women* / statistics & numerical data
Research Personnel*
Sexism
United States