2/3 CTSA K12 Program at University of Massachusetts

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Background: This K12 application is a required companion of the UMass CTSA (UM1) application. We build on the strengths of our KL2 program, which has trained 27 scholars since its inception in 2010. Collectively, they have published 978 peer-reviewed publications and garnered $339 million as PIs in extramural funding, with all remaining in research-intensive careers. Goal and rationale: The overall goal of our new K12 Program is to develop the careers of scientists who will drive the agenda of accelerating the translational process and changing paradigms in translational science (TS). Our program is designed to develop scholars with the 7 fundamental characteristics of a translational scientist, and they will also become skilled in the 8 Scientific and Operational TS Principles. We will recruit scholars and have faculty from all 5 campuses of the University of Massachusetts and its three clinical partners. Thus, we will equip our scholars with the tools to address major challenges facing the TS workforce, specifically, its currently siloed nature and its lack of sociodemographic and scientific diversity. Methods: There will be 4 NCATS-supported scholars at any given time, who will form the core of our umbrella K program, which will use institutional funds to support another 3 diversity scholars plus another 2 supported by our clinical partners, for a steady state of 9. All 9 scholars will follow the same career development approach, with the difference being only in the source (not the amount) of funding and support. Scholars will be junior faculty (typically assistant professors) with health-related scientific interests, though not necessarily clinicians. We will rely heavily on structured transdisciplinary team mentoring with mentoring contracts and individual development plans (IDPs). IDPs will provide the compass to tailor career development plans to the needs and scientific passion of each scholar. Scholars will participate in a combination of experiential and didactic experiences and be offered the choice of one of 6 scientific pathways. There will be a required core curriculum that includes, among others, data science, translational science, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Scholars will be supported by the K12 for 2 years and expected to submit an external NIH K individual career development or R-level award by the end of the 2nd year. The scholar's department chair will commit to a 3rd year of funding if the application is competitive but not funded on 1st submission. We have developed a metrics-driven evaluation for our K12 Program based on our logic model and built in feedback loops. We will collect short- intermediate-, and long-term (15 year) outcomes. Summary: Our K12 program is designed to:1) Include mentors and scholars across the translational spectrum; 2) Use a transdisciplinary team mentoring model; 3) Offer a flexible educational platform designed to achieve NCATS competency standards for TS; 4) Use IDPs that nurture the 7 fundamental characteristics of a translational scientist; and 5) Enhance institutional values of collective creativity and collaboration.