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The NIH childhood adversity portfolio: unmet needs, emerging challenges

Daniel P Gitterman1, William W Hay2, W Scott Langford3

  • 1Duncan MacRae'09 and Rebecca Kyle MacRae Professor of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #3435, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, USA. danielg@email.unc.edu.

Pediatric Research
|January 11, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) needs to align with the burden of childhood adversity, including gun violence, suicide, and drug overdose. Current funding for gun violence research is critically low.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Public Health
  • Health Services Research
  • Biomedical Research Funding

Background:

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for pediatric research has increased, but its alignment with current child and adolescent disease burdens requires examination.
  • The NIH aims to address unmet needs and emerging challenges in pediatric health through supported research.
  • Childhood adversity, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), gun violence, suicide, and drug abuse/overdose represent critical pediatric health challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the NIH's pediatric budgetary landscape and research funding allocations.
  • To specifically investigate funding for childhood adversity and ACEs.
  • To highlight research funding for gun violence, suicide, and drug abuse/overdose as key pediatric unmet needs.

Main Methods:

  • Scanning the NIH pediatric budgetary landscape.
  • Reporting on research funding specifically for childhood adversity and ACEs.
  • Analyzing funding data for pediatric gun violence, suicide, and drug abuse/overdose.

Main Results:

  • Pediatric research funding for gun violence, a leading cause of child mortality, constitutes only 0.0017% of the NIH pediatric portfolio.
  • Findings indicate a need to reconceptualize gun violence, suicide, and drug abuse/overdose as forms of childhood adversity and ACEs.
  • New data assesses the relationship between NIH spending and the pediatric burden of disease.

Conclusions:

  • NIH funding allocation requires better alignment with the current burden of pediatric diseases, particularly those related to adversity and violence.
  • Reconceptualizing gun violence, suicide, and drug abuse as ACEs is crucial for effective research and intervention strategies.
  • Increased investment in research addressing these critical pediatric health challenges is urgently needed.

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