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NIH Panel to Study Biomedical Workforce Future

Beakers and molecule model (USTR.gov)

(USTR.gov)

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) working group will study the U.S. biomedical workforce of the future, but with limited input from private companies. Of the 12 members of the panel, only one participant — Garry Neil, vice president of Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey — is from the private sector.

The working group is expected to examine several questions about employment for biomedical researchers …

What is the right size of the workforce?
What are the appropriate types of positions that should be supported to allow people to have successful careers and to continue to advance biomedical and behavioral sciences?
What is the best way to support these various positions?
What types of training should be provided?

The group will recommend actions to the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director.

Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton University, and NIH deputy director Sally Rockey chair the panel. Except for Neil, the remainder of the 12-person panel come from universities, research institutes, or hospitals. No participants represent biotechnology companies or medical device manufacturers.

The private sector has traditionally offered an alternative employment market for biomedical researchers, but it too has come under pressure in recent years. An August 2010 report by the market research firm Business Insights estimated the U.S. pharmaceutical and medical device workforce in 2005 at about 100,000.

Since then the companies’ patent pipeline has diminished, generics have grabbed a larger share of the market, and outsourcing to India and China has increased. According to the report, projected employment growth in these companies is expected to lag overall U.S. employment by 6 to 11 percent.

Hat tip: Science Insider

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