To review the internal endowment-funded research at Neurology Department in the past ten years and identify the disease area and research types that were not well-supported

To meet the increasing need for advancing research of neurologic disorders and the growing demand for neurologic care, and help our faculty and housestaff win competitive grants, in 2014, the Neurology Department at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center established the Diamond Endowment Program and the Reeves Funds to support research in Neurology. Between June 2015 and September 2023, these endowment programs successfully supported 103 research projects. The award recipients have given 46 poster or platform presentations at national and international conferences, 25 publications in peer-reviewed journals, one patent application, and 13 competitive grants funded by private companies and major government funding agencies. But compared to the high completion rate of funded projects conducted by the senior faculty and experienced clinical and translational researchers, we also realized barriers preventing early investigators from successfully completing the research projects after receiving the funding.

To identify the future research support needs, fill in the potential gaps, and identify the feasible projects for early investigators, we conducted a series of interviews with clinicians, advanced practice providers, residents and fellows, faculty, and research staff. We aim to establish a programmatic and sustainable research pipeline that can successfully fulfill early investigators’ research passions despite the time constraints imposed by clinical training.

We have collected 29 research questions covering eight disease and specialty areas, among which several potentially suitable projects for early investigators were identified based on their interests and experiences.

Our on-going survey and curriculum development will help us identify the barriers and lead to potential solutions. Our ultimate goal is to increase the scholarship confidence of early investigators, especially residents and fellows, and satisfy their research passion early in their career.