The proposed UCLA CTSI KL2 grant involves partnerships between UCLA, Charles R. Drew University, Cedars Sinai and LA Biomed, building upon long-standing relationships of jointly training research fellows and junior clinical investigators. Deeply committed to rigorous translational science training, these institutions have been highly successful in developing outstanding scientists through exemplary mentoring, innovative project- based learning, and a wide array of formal didactic opportunities. In this proposal, we propose to build upon the success of our educational and training programs with several innovative additions to the KL2 Program. The KL2 program objectives are to: 1) Enhance career development and research training support for junior investigators in translational science; 2) Provide a flexible, supportive environment to meet the needs of a diverse group of Scholars; 3) Facilitate and improve mentorship through new mentorship training programs; 4) Leverage institutional support and matching funds to expand the KL2 program for additional institutional K Scholars; 5) Foster collaborative research, promote leadership, and encourage entrepreneurship and development of intellectual property among our Scholars and other junior investigators; 6) Improve the recruitment, career development support, mentoring programs, and funding support for women and minority faculty; 7) Provide structured oversight of educational and training needs for all junior investigators. The KL2 Program will select 3 junior faculty (assistant professor or equivalent) per year and provide 3 years of support at 75% effort. We will recruit and train the most promising and diverse junior faculty in a range of disciplines related to translational research. With institutional funds, we will supplement the program with additional institutional career development awards for highly qualified junior faculty. All KL2 Scholars will participate in the KL2 Core Curriculum, which will also be available to other junior faculty with a NIH K or equivalent award. The Core Curriculum includes strong mentorship with a team of senior scientists, training in team science and communication of science, mentorship training in our a ?daisy-chain? mentoring program, seminars in career development, and training in the responsible conduct of research. KL2 Scholars will also be assigned a K to R studio in which a panel of senior faculty will meet regularly with the Scholar to provide grant writing guidance for the Scholar's transition to an R01 award. Additional curriculum will be tailored to each Scholar, depending on their research focus. The KL2 Program will also participate in several activities to increase diversity in the scientific pipeline from high school to faculty level and will actively recruit and support diverse faculty in the KL2 program. Key outcomes for the KL2 Program will be the success rate of KL2 Scholars in obtaining grants (transition to an NIH K01/K08/K23 and to and R or U level grants), number of peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, development of intellectual property, and increase in gender and racial/ethnic diversity of faculty.
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