Challenges and opportunities for growing and retaining a pain research workforce

The pain management community recognizes that there is a need to improve the 47 clinical pain research workforce 1 .To better understand this problem, the recent 48 NIH/NINDS workforce survey 2 asked multidisciplinary clinical pain researchers to 49 identify the factors that have helped them pursue clinical pain research as a career or, 50 conversely, the factors that held them back from pursuing such research.Responses 51 revealed that those who left research to pursue patient care tended to be 1) earlier in 52 their careers and 2) less likely to have received any formal research training or 53 mentoring.Established researchers with training or mentorship experiences were more 54 likely to remain in the research workforce.Across career stages, the survey identified 55 two important factors to help clinicians continue research: 1) support and funding from 56 their home institutions and 2) protected time for writing grant applications and 57 conducting research.58 Several key career inflection points exist for aspiring researchers.Beyond 59 training and funding opportunities, environmental support (home and work) is another 60 key factor.Included in this factor are educational debt, challenges associated with 61 parenting, and/or the availability of family support 3,4 .NIH has begun to address some of 62 these structural elements through programs such as the NIH Loan Repayment 63 Program, support for childcare during work-related travel, and extension of early-stage 64 investigator (ESI) status for familial circumstances 5 .Building a diverse workforce for 65 clinical pain research is an ongoing goal and while some evidence shows that 66 racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to choose a research career, a mitigating factor is 67 a positive research environment with mentoring support 6,7 .