Women Making Huge Advances in Research Grants at the University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego is among the nation’s leading educational institutions in receiving federal research dollars. Thus, it is important to note that women researchers at the university have made tremendous progress in gaining a larger share of the pie of government funds.

The Office of Contract and Grant Administration at the University of California, San Diego reports that in 2017 six of the 10 largest research grants awarded to the university in the health sciences went to projects headed by women. Four of these grant programs were led by Christina Chambers, a professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine. Dr. Chambers’ research focuses on the impact of drugs, alcohol, and other environmental factors on pregnant women and their babies. She is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton, where she majored in anthropology. Dr. Chambers holds a master of public health degree and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the joint program of San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Chambers notes that the “types of large grants that are available today are ones that require team science. It’s not so much a single investigator doing incremental science in the lab. It’s people working in a consortium with multiple sites who need to work together in a collaborative way. I have lots of male colleagues who work really well in groups, but this is a natural strength that women possess that I think lends itself well to this funding environment.”

Campuswide in 2013, women were the principal investigators on six of the 40 largest research grants earned by the University of California, San Diego. In 2017, women were the leaders of 18 of the 40 largest grant programs.

Among the 40 largest grants won by researchers at the university in 2013, women were the principal investigators on grant programs that amounted to $24.5 million. In contrast, men led grants totalling $133.3 million. In 2017, women were the principal investigators on grants totaling $89.1 million, while men led grant programs totaling $72.5 million.