Chapter 8 - Winners Take All

Summary

Chapter 8 is concerned with why research funds are concentrated among a select few researchers and disease groups, as well as how the concentration of funds influences the rate and direction of research. This concentration is also known as the Matthew Effect or rich-get-richer, and is often a result of biases in funding. The groups that are under-represented will tend to continue to be biased against, resulting in a systematic dearth in their participation and an accumulation of resources among a select few. The benefit of a greater dispersal of funds is that it increases the number of different perspectives actively participating in the creation of scientific knowledge, including the ability of younger researchers to participate. The latter part of the chapter investigates how and why certain disease groups such as diabetes and cancer receive more resources than others, and how this affects the trajectory. The chapter concludes with potential solutions to counteract this clustering of resources on both the individual and disease level.