Profile of winners of “Salud Investiga” grants 2021-2022 awarded by the Argentine Ministry of Health

Abstract

Between June and November 2021, the Directorate of Health Research of the Argentine Ministry of Health launched the Call for Health Research Grants “Salud Investiga 2021-2022”. Its objective was to promote health research on guidelines and topics prioritized in the National Public Health Research Agenda. The distinctive feature of this year was the pool of grants for Multiple Investigator Studies (MIS) and MIS National Hospitals within the framework of the National Plan of Translational Health Research for the Hospital Network. Forty-seven grants were awarded for Individual Studies (IS), 221 for MIS and 32 for MIS in National Hospitals. The guideline with the highest number of awarded grant projects (14) was health/social/economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations (indigenous peoples, structural poverty, immigrants, informal work). Sixty-eight percent of the IS grantees and 83% of the MIS and MIS National Hospitals grantees came from public institutions, mostly hospitals. The predominant disciplinary backgrounds were Health Sciences, and Social Sciences and Humanities. Most of the grant winners lived in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (40% IS and 29% MIS and MIS National Hospitals) and in the Province of Buenos Aires (17% IS and 36% MIS and MIS National Hospitals). Women between 30 and 39 years of age were the most represented subgroup among grant winners.