Background

Since 2004 the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Foundation have awarded annual research grants to competitive proposals by ASMBS members that are administered through the ASMBS Research Committee. These grants are intended to further the knowledge in the field of metabolic and bariatric surgery and support the scholarly growth of its members. The aim of this project was to evaluate the factors associated with grant completion success and barriers encountered by investigators.

Methods

Members of the ASMBS research committee retrospectively reviewed all awarded research grants since 2004. Information captured included research topic, status of awarded grants and related publications. Further, a web-based survey of grant recipients was administered exploring the perceived factors of successful completion and barriers encountered.

Results

Since 2004, ASMBS members have been awarded 28 research grants totaling $1,033,000. Seventeen projects had been completed at the time of the survey leading to 13 publications, while eleven remain in progress. Overall, 64% received additional funding. Factors reported to influence successful completion of grants included the effectiveness of the research team, PI perseverance, PI protected time, institutional support and available resources, and mentorship. Over the last decade, the average time from the award to publication was 2 years.

Conclusions

The research grants awarded by the AMSBS are successfully completed at a high rate and lead to further funding suggesting that they boost the career of their recipients. The identified factors of success can help guide future applicants and the ASMBS Research Committee during grant selection process.