A Journal of the American Medical Association study published this week surveyed 1,663 research faculty at medical schools or teaching hospitals to determine their funding and productivity by research type. Of the people surveyed, 33.6 percent were basic science researchers, 9.1 percent translational researchers, 7.1 percent clinical trial investigators, and nine percent health services researchers or clinical epidemiologists.
As far as funding goes, the average faculty member received $33,417 from medical device, pharmaceutical and other medical industry companies. Translational, clinical trial, and multimode researchers were more likely to report a relationship with industry than basic researchers. "The bottom line is that this demonstrates research relationships are ubiquitous," study author Eric Campbell tells Bloomberg News. "More than half of all researchers have them. The inroads are vast, and among all types of research, not just clinical trials."