GRADUATE EDUCATION IN PHARMACY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES Trends in Research and Graduate Programs in Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy, Part 1: Programs Lisa Lebovitz, JD, Peter W. Swaan, PhD, Natalie D. Eddington, PhD University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland Submitted April 22, 2019; accepted September 3, 2019; published May 2020. Objective. To examine the landscape of research and graduate education nationally and within schools and colleges of pharmacy. This report is part 1 of a three-part series and focuses on graduate programs’ research funding and science faculty composition and diversity. Findings. Between FY2008 and FY2017, the number of full-time faculty members in schools and colleges of pharmacy increased 36%. The number of pharmacy schools with National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards increased by 15%, while NIH grants per faculty principal investigator (PI) increased by 31%. However, unadjusted for inflation, the mean NIH dollar amount per-faculty member PI increased just 14% and the mean NIH dollar amount per-school declined 7%, indicating that number of funded faculty outpaced dollars available. Proportionately, the percentage of science faculty mem- bers at pharmacy schools decreased from 47% to 43%. Only 15 public, research-intensive schools and colleges of pharmacy received more than half of the combined FY2017 NIH funding and total funding, while all other public and private schools and colleges of pharmacy shared the remaining funds. Interdisciplinary programs are developing slowly, and may help to diversify and increase future funding. Proportions of tenured and tenure-track positions are declining, but biological sciences and social and administrative sciences disciplines are growing and women faculty are making significant gains in these fields and at the assistant professor rank. Summary. Research-intensive schools and colleges of pharmacy are best-positioned to lead the acad- emy to reframe graduate education to build interdisciplinary team skills and attract more diverse funding and science faculty members. Keywords: graduate, training, research, funding, trends INTRODUCTION The graduate education infrastructure in schools and colleges of pharmacy has been instrumental in producing scientists and leaders in academia, the pharmaceutical industry, federal government, non-governmental organi- zations (NGOs), and other science-based policy positions. Over the last two decades, the foundation of graduate education has been impacted by external and internal factors that have influenced its sustainability and ac- countability. This report series examines these factors in light of the significant increase in the number of schools and colleges of pharmacy, includingcurrent and emerging challenges and opportunities over the last 10 years that impact graduate students, science faculty members, graduate education, and research infrastructure in pharmacy schools; science faculty composition, including discipline identity, rank, tenure status, gender, and race and eth- nicity; factors that support and hinder a diverse environ- ment in pharmacy schools; graduate enrollment, degrees conferred and gender, race, and ethnicity over the last 10 years; and graduate student experiences (mentoring, career navigation). In 1998, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Commission on the Future of Gradu- ate Education in the Pharmaceutical Sciences was charged to examine two major questions: What are the numbers and abilities of PhD graduates needed in the pharmaceutical sciences, and what should be the nature of the education and training of PhD students in the phar- maceutical sciences? The report’s major recommenda- tions included: schools and colleges of pharmacy must offer students competitive research environments under supervision of highly qualified faculty mentors; phar- maceutical sciences faculty should be encouraged to en- gage in multi- or interdisciplinary research and graduate training programs within their own institution and with Corresponding Author: Natalie D. Eddington, University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, 20 Pine St., Baltimore, MD 21201. Tel: 410-706-7651. Email: neddingt@rx.umaryland.edu American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 2020; 84 (5) Article 7643. 613 by guest on February 19, 2022. © 2020 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy http://www.ajpe.org Downloaded from