Institutional Career Development Core

The proposed UCLA CTSI KL2 grant builds upon long-standing relationships among our CTSI institution partners – UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, Harbor-UCLA/Lundquist and Charles R. Drew University – of jointly training translational scientists. Since our last renewal in 2016, we have greatly expanded our programs to include initiation of our K Scholars Society, longitudinal grant writing studios, development of a platform for sharing successful grants, and training in team science, communication and mentorship. 100% of graduates have remained in research careers, 83% have received subsequent extramural funding as PI, and our 45 scholars have published 733 peer-reviewed articles. We now propose to build upon these successes with the following objectives: 1) Enhance and expand career development support and translational science training resources, 2) Leverage institutional support and matching funds to expand the KL2 Program for additional institutional K scholars, 3) Create a supportive environment for young investigators that fosters exploration, collaboration, leadership, mentorship and entrepreneurship, 4) Improve the recruitment, career development support, mentoring programs, and funding support for junior faculty from varied scientific disciplines, and 5) Provide, monitor and continuously improve the structured oversight of educational and training needs for all UCLA CTSI KL2 Scholars. The KL2 Program will select three junior faculty (e.g., assistant professor) per year and provide three years of support at 75% effort. With institutional funds, we will supplement the program with additional institutional career development awards for highly qualified junior faculty. Key outcomes for the KL2 Program will be the success rate of KL2 Scholars in obtaining grants, number of peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, scientific impact using novel metrics, and impact on the health of patients and the community in Los Angeles, nationally and worldwide.