Early Investigator Awards are a prestigious funding mechanism of the National Institutes of Health designed to vault the most promising new PhD scientists to independence by allowing them to bypass postdoctoral fellowships and start their own labs immediately, providing up to $250,000 annually for five years.

An article in Science discussed NIH data, which indicates that since the awards were launched in 2010, they have consistently been awarded to men in numbers exceeding their representation in the applicant pool. 

“This is exactly what research on the influence of gender would predict—that men would be favored in the review process for a new, highly prestigious award that is based on potential, not proven ability,” said Molly Carnes, MD, MS, professor and Jean Manchester Biddick Professor of Women's Health Research, Geriatrics and Gerontology. 

The topic was covered in a news article in Science. 

In a different story appearing in NBC News about the impact of implicit bias in medicine, Dr. Carnes described workshops she created for faculty to increase awareness about bias by teaching participants how to recognize and counteract it. 

Resources:

• "NIH’s plum award for young scientists skews male, agency’s data show," Science, May 15, 2018
• "How training doctors in implicit bias could save the lives of black mothers," NBC News, May 11, 2018