Wisconsin Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research Career Development Program

PROJECT SUMMARY The University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Multidisciplinary Urologic Career Development Program (KURe) K12 began in 2013 to attract and retain aspiring scientists into the benign urologic research field. Our rich training environment includes robust urologic research support including a George M. O’Brien Center in Benign Urology Research; a Summer Program in Undergraduate Urologic Research (SPUUR); and a U24 interactions core focused on Collaborating for the Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology (CAIRIBU). The K12 scholars and cadre of outstanding mentors also benefit from UW Madison’s NIH-funded Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and an internationally recognized Center for Improvement of Mentored Research Experiences. There has been tangible progress since 2013. In addition to five current scholars receiving training, six scholars have completed K12 training and earned investigator-initiated NIH funding. Five of these scholars are leading independent benign urology focused research programs as tenure track faculty at research-intensive institutions. Building on proven success, the program will continue to recruit and retain promising investigators through formative mentored research experiences and didactic training, as well as new initiatives to enhance professional development, with the goal of expanding the workforce in benign urology research.