National Trends in NIH Funding and Clinician-Scientist Participation Across Diagnostic Radiology…

StudyAcademic radiology· Aug 2026

National Trends in NIH Funding and Clinician-Scientist Participation Across Diagnostic Radiology, Interventional Radiology, and Radiation Oncology (2012-2025).

Ajay Malhotra, Keervani Kandala, Paul Timothy Gomez … Ajay Gupta

Interventional RadiologyStudyQ1IF 3.7

Diagnostic radiologists' share of National Institutes of Health-funded clinicians fell from 66.7% to 47.0% by 2025

National Trends in NIH Funding and Clinician-Scientist Participation Across Diagnostic Radiology, Interventional Radiology, and Radiation Oncology (2012-2025).

Ajay Malhotra … Ajay Gupta

Academic radiology · Aug 2026 · Q1 in Radiology

Background

To identify trends in National Institutes of Health (National Institutes of Health) funding to clinician-scientists in radiology relative to overall funding in the field, and funding in radiology sub-specialties.

Methods

Data was obtained from the National Institutes of Health Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditure and Results (Reporting Tools Expenditure and Results) database for National Institutes of Health grants issued from 2012 to 2025 principal investigators (principal investigators) under "Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology".

n = 14,105 unique NIH-funded projects

47.0%

Results

47.0%

diagnostic radiology's share of funded clinicians has fallen, ceding ground to other specialties

n = 14,105 unique NIH-funded projects

More results

Among 14,105 unique National Institutes of Health-funded projects in the Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology category, 437 of 3434 investigators (12.7%) across all principal investigators roles were clinicians.

Female representation among funded diagnostic radiologists increased from 11 of 64 (17.2%) in 2012 to 30 of 108 (27.8%) in 2025.

More results

Diagnostic radiology funding rose from $39.9 million in 2012 to $87.9 million in 2025, while radiation oncology funding rose from $14.3 million to $67.3 million.

Among 42 new K-series awards, radiation oncology received 28 (66.7%).

“

Conclusion

National Institutes of Health grant-funding to physicians in "Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology" has increased over time, but remains a small proportion of overall funding in this category.