The UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) KL2 Mentored Career Development Program was initiated in 2006 to train and empower the next generation of junior faculty in clinical and translational research. The program is a critical component of the UC Davis translational research infrastructure, providing the necessary research training to develop team science investigators capable of becoming leaders in their respective fields. We have trained exceptional junior faculty, expanded the team science and collaborative elements of the program, ensured a rigorous team mentoring experience, and continued our integration of institutional K career development programs as partners. Our fundamental objective is to produce a qualitatively different investigator, drawn from diverse disciplines and committed to excellence, with strategic skills, broad perspectives, and knowledge necessary to be successful leaders in academic, industry, and community settings. By building on our robust foundation we will extend the translational research education and career development mission throughout our institution, create diversified training tools to individualize training and career development that will go beyond incremental advances, and develop a strong mentoring resource to nurture and foster the career development of a continuously growing community of scholars. The CTSC KL2 training program is unique among the programs offered, and capitalizes on a wealth of CTSC and UC Davis opportunities. Our goals for the proposed funding period include to: (1) Develop a highly skilled multidisciplinary, team-oriented diverse workforce through an individually tailored program that ensures future leaders that can bring solutions to complex clinical and translational challenges, (2) Enhance competencies of faculty mentors and facilitate the transition of scholars into a community of mentors that will drive transformative research advances, and (3) Capitalize on the catalytic, facilitating, and organizational power of the CTSC to aggregate and align UC Davis faculty and scholar-focused resources to accelerate career trajectories. With strong institutional support the CTSC will serve as an honest broker to engage departmental, center, institutional leaders, and CTSA national partners to catalyze comprehensive and efficient research teams of the future.
