ArticlePediatric research2026
Recent trends and structural patterns in NIH pediatric research funding, 2015-2024.
Article in Pediatric research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNational Institutes of Health (NIH) pediatric research funding has persistently lagged behind children's share of the US population and disease burden. This study examined trends in NIH pediatric research expenditures, funding distribution across NIH components, and classification accuracy of the NIH Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC)'s system for identifying pediatric research.
methodsWe conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis of RCDC, NIH Office of Budget, and NIH RePORTER data from fiscal years (FY) 2015-2024. Expenditures were inflation-adjusted using the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index (BRDPI). A stratified random audit of 200 RCDC Pediatric-category projects assessed classification accuracy.
resultsNIH research expenditures grew 62% nominally (FY2015: $28.5 billion; FY2024: $46.1 billion), but only 26% in inflation-adjusted dollars. Pediatric research consistently comprised approximately 13% of NIH nonadministrative expenditures, despite children <18 years-old constituting 22% of the US population. Five institutes accounted for 57% of pediatric research expenditures. The audit identified a 6% misclassification rate, clustering around maternal health studies lacking pediatric outcomes.
conclusionNIH pediatric research funding remained proportionally stagnant, rising passively with the NIH budget rather than reflecting deliberate prioritization. Strengthening pediatric and life-course research may require more coordinated trans-NIH prioritization. IMPACT: In nominal dollars, pediatric research funding at the NIH rose from $3.5 billion in FY2015 to $6.2 billion in FY2024; however, adjusted for inflation, the level of funding plateaued from FY2020 to FY2024. As a proportion of NIH nonadministrative expenditures, pediatric research accounted for approximately 13% across FY2015-FY2024. Although NICHD devoted 58-60% of its research funding to pediatric studies, it accounted for just 17% of all pediatric research funding. Every NIH component funded some amount of pediatric research, but the NIH lacks a coordinated trans-NIH strategy for pediatric research prioritization and oversight.
Identifiers
42595824What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.