The historical research-funding model, based on the curiosity and academic interests of researchers, is giving way to new strategic funding models that seek to meet societal needs. We investigated the impact of this trend on health research funded by the two leading funding bodies worldwide, i.e. the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States, and the framework programs of the European Union (EU). To this end, we performed a quantitative analysis of the content of projects supported through programmatic funding by the EU and NIH, in the period 2008-2014 and 2015-2020. We used machine learning for classification of projects as basic biomedical research, or as more implementation directed clinical therapeutic research, diagnostics research, population research, or policy and management research. In addition, we analyzed funding for major disease areas (cancer, cardio-metabolic and infectious disease). We found that EU collaborative health research projects clearly shifted towards more implementation research. In the US, the recently implemented UM1 program has a similar profile with strong clinical therapeutic research, while other NIH programs remain heavily oriented to basic biomedical research. Funding for cancer research is present across all NIH and EU programs, and in biomedical as well as more implementation directed projects, while infectious diseases is an emerging theme. We conclude that demand for solutions for medical needs leads to expanded funding for implementation- and impact-oriented research. Basic biomedical research remains present in programs driven by scientific initiative and strategies based on excellence, but may be at risk of declining funding opportunities.

翻译：基于研究者好奇心与学术兴趣的历史研究资助模式，正逐渐被旨在满足社会需求的新型战略资助模式所取代。本研究考察了这一趋势对全球两大主要资助机构（即美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）与欧盟（EU）框架计划）所资助的健康研究的影响。为此，我们对2008-2014年及2015-2020年期间EU与NIH通过项目制资助的研究内容进行了定量分析。采用机器学习方法将项目分类为：基础生物医学研究、更偏向实施的临床治疗研究、诊断研究、人群研究，以及政策与管理研究。此外，我们还分析了主要疾病领域（癌症、心血管代谢疾病与传染性疾病）的资助情况。研究发现，EU的合作健康研究项目明显向实施研究倾斜。在美国，近期实施的UM1项目具有类似特征，即强临床治疗研究导向，而其他NIH项目仍以基础生物医学研究为主。癌症研究资助贯穿NIH与EU所有项目，涵盖生物医学及更偏实施导向的项目，而传染性疾病正成为新兴主题。我们得出结论：对医学解决方案的需求促使资助向以实施与影响力为导向的研究倾斜。而由科学自主性与卓越战略驱动的基础生物医学研究虽仍存在，但可能面临资助机会减少的风险。