Shared Core Facilities Serve as Hubs for Biomedical Research Network at Institutions of Emerging Excellence

We analyzed co-authorship patterns within the National Institutes of Health Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in Matrix Biology program from 2014 to 2022. In this study, we analyzed junior investigators, senior researchers, and research scientists within a shared core facility. Social network analysis techniques were applied to evaluate the co-authorship network based on journal publications from members of the center. The results indicated that co-authorship network visualization and analysis is a useful tool for understanding the relationship between a shared core facility and young investigators within a research center. Young investigators collaborated with and relied upon the individual research scientists of the shared core facility to serve as contributing members of their extended research team. This reliance on the shared core facility effectively increases the size and productivity of the research team led by the young investigator. Our results indicate that shared core facility staff may serve as hubs within the network of biomedical researchers, particularly at institutions with a growing research emphasis.