A static research enterprise decouples from changes in the burden of disease

A static research enterprise decouples from changes in the burden of disease | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Article A static research enterprise decouples from changes in the burden of disease Marc Lerchenmueller, Leo Schmallenbach, Maximilian Bley, Till Bärnighausen, and 2 more https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5968848/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Video Script Research has highlighted an imbalance between research and the global disease burden at various points in time; however, there is a lack of evidence on whether research has adapted diachronically to reduce this misalignment. Without longitudinal assessment, the ability to monitor the balance between research and disease burden is limited, hampering evidence-based interventions to optimize research in the service of improving human health. Here, we use a novel method applying a large language model to link two decades of disease burden data to 8.6 million disease-specific publications. Our results show that the global imbalance between research and disease burden has reduced by more than half between 1999 and 2021. However, this reduction does not result from a more balanced distribution of research. Rather, it reflects a reduced burden of geographically localized communicable diseases and concomitant rise and globalization of non-communicable diseases. As disease becomes more globalized, few countries are responding to local burden. In a simulation, we demonstrate that the trend towards balance is likely to reverse, increasing the imbalance between research and disease burden in the future. We conclude with policy recommendations to increase alignment and reduce imbalance. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Interdisciplinary studies Health sciences/Medical research/Epidemiology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. MJL is a co-founder and shareholder of AaviGen GmbH, a cardiovascular gene therapy company. The present study is not related to the company. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.pdf Supplementary Information NMEDA139896Tepc.pdf Editorial Policy Checklist NMEDA139896Trs.pdf Reporting Summary Cite Share Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5968848","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":424005318,"identity":"702c7719-b732-4648-b808-6881e213d207","order_by":0,"name":"Marc 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