CTSA K12 Program at Duke University

PROJECT SUMMARY This CTSA-affiliated Institutional Career Development K12 Program from Duke builds on an earlier Duke CTSA-affiliated career development program (KL2). The foundational KL2 program supported 28 scholars from varied background. We now propose a new K12 program in which we maintain the KL2 themes (recruiting scholars from all background , team science skills, and skills in translational research) and add training in population research, translational science principles, use of artificial intelligence (AI), and mentoring-training, and preparation for next-step funding. The objectives are: Objective 1: Provide junior faculty scholars with research resources and fundamental transdisciplinary research knowledge and skills. Research-intensive early-stage faculty from Duke and NCCU will receive three years of 75% effort support (50% for proceduralists), research funds, mentoring, career development activities, and training in translational science, team science, and principles of AI. Objective 2: Promote development of a translational research workforce. The proposed K12 will employ successful strategies developed in the foundational KL2 to recruit scholars from all demographics and research focus from both Duke and NCCU. We will conduct targeted outreach, provide all applicants with resources to prepare strong applications through a tailored application preparation program, and implement a transparent, and trustworthy review process. Objective 3: Prepare junior faculty scholars to employ principles and strategies to promote trustworthiness in all aspects of their research. K12 scholars will participate in a population health curriculum provided collaboratively by the CTSA’s Workforce Development (WD) Module, Community and Stakeholder Engagement Research Module, and Duke’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Center for population health. The curriculum will provide training to equip all scholars, regardless of research focus, to employ unbiased research processes that maximize benefits and minimize harm for all populations. Objective 4: Promote success with next level funding. Of the 25 graduates of the foundational KL2 to date, all have academic faculty appointments and funded effort on research grants, and 15 (60%) are Principal Investigator on a K, R, or comparable award. Building on this success, in the proposed K12, we will create and implement “REKAPPNext”, a program that will provide K12 scholars with concept review, a workshop series that coaches scholars on each component of the next-step application, and pre-submission internal review. Impact: The proposed K12, coupled with strong institutional commitment, an accomplished and committed leadership team, and extensive research infrastructure and administrative support, will contribute to a skillful and successful translational research workforce of the future.