The Changing Organization of Biomedical Research: An AAMC Project on Centers and Institutes

Purposes of Research and Project Description

The advancement of scientific inquiry over the last 50 years has slowly broken down the boundaries of traditional scientific disciplines and encouraged collaboration among researchers. Promising avenues of basic research and clinical application require links among and beyond disciplines and across institutions, and future progress depends on the continual fostering of interdisciplinary collaborations.

These advancements in biomedical science and technology have raised questions about the best way to organize the research enterprise. Historically, academic departments have served this role, but the nature of science itself now calls for organizational configurations that extend beyond discipline and school to conduct and train for biomedical research. Interdisciplinary research centers and institutes, in many cases, have been created to meet this role. The scholarship on organized research centers has not been recently or thoroughly explored, however, and many questions exist: How do these new structures work? What are the implications for the traditional research mission of the medical school? How do interdisciplinary centers and institutes interact with academic departments? How do faculty operate in this milieu?

Such understanding is crucial in the current environment where leaders continue to look for ways to balance the tripartite missions of education, research, and clinical care. In response to these issues, the Association of American Medical Colleges undertook an initiative to investigate the role of centers and institutes in the organization and structure of the biomedical sciences and to explore the management implications for medical school and university leaders. Over the past two years, several stages of data collection have been undertaken and are described below.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund generously provided support for this research project.

Phase I. Survey of the Status of Centers and Institutes in U.S. Medical Schools
Phase II. Case Studies of Innovative Models of Organization
Phase III. Survey of Faculty Work Life

Board of Consultants

To assist in various stages of this project, we assembled a six-member board of consultants (PDF, 176 KB) who are national experts in the areas of medical research, faculty affairs, academic medical leadership, and higher education policy. Members of this board participated in a seminar discussion about the issues surrounding centers and institutes, reviewed the research agenda, offered advice about the site visit selection and protocol, participated in some of the site visits, reviewed results of the project, and offered ad hoc advice throughout the process.

Results

Click here for a complete list of reports and related articles based on this initiative.

Contacts

Please contact us with any comments or questions: centersandinstitutes@aamc.org

William T. Mallon, EdD
Assistant Vice President
Director of Organization and Management Studies
Phone: (202) 828-0424
wmallon@aamc.org

Sarah A. Bunton, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Phone: (202) 862-6225
sbunton@aamc.org

Resources

• Related Literature (PDF, 103 KB)
• NIH Roadmap homepage
• Examples of Institutional Policies on Centers and Institutes:
  
  • University of Missouri, Institutional Rules and Regulations
  • University of New Mexico, Institutional Interim Policy
  • University of Colorado System, President's Office Procedures
  • Duke University, Interdisciplinary Studies Program Policies
  • Indiana University, Institutional Policies
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison, University Academic Planning Council Guidelines
  • University of Florida, Division of Sponsored Research, Institutional Policy
  • Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Institutional Guidelines
  • University of California, Irvine, Office of Research and Graduate Studies Guidelines
    
• Article on Interdisciplinary Training Programs:
  • Sung NS, Gordon JI, Rose GD, Getzoff ED, Kron SJ, Mumford D, Onuchic JN, Scherer NF, Sumners DL, Kopell NJ. (2003, September 13). Science education: Enhanced: Educating future scientists. Science, 301 (5639), p. 1485.

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