Funded research pathways for surgeon-scientists and radiation oncologist-scientists
Almost no surgeons or radiation oncologists have time or funding to do research. Dedicated training awards with protected time would build the workforce that surgical and radiotherapy trials need.
A funded career pathway: integrated research years within surgical and radiation oncology training, career-development awards on the model of NIH K08/K23 but reserved for these specialties, protected time in the first faculty years and mentorship networks linked to the surgical and radiotherapy trials infrastructure. Surgeon-scientists are a shrinking fraction of NIH-funded investigators, and radiation oncology, though research-rich relative to its size, lacks trialists and translational scientists. Awards prioritise trial methodology, health services research and technology evaluation, the skills these fields lack most.
- Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least · Surgery and radiotherapy cure more people than drugs do, but attract a fraction of the research investment.
- Not enough oncologists, nurses, pathologists, physicists · The number of people with cancer is rising faster than the workforce trained to treat them.