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Clinical & Translational Science Institute / Funding / Career Development K Award

Career Development K Award

The UR CTSI Career Development Award (KL2) provides two years of support for the early career development of multidisciplinary clinical and translational scientists. The program fosters transition of KL2 scholars to an independent career as a clinical and translational investigator, generally by means of an individual K- or R-award.

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Important Updates

For the 2025 KL2 Award cycle: The KL2 mechanism is being phased out by NCATS and will transition into a K12 mechanism at UR CTSI beginning on July 1, 2025, pending the UR CTSI’s successful receipt of the K12 award submitted in 2024 (outcome expected in early spring 2025). While we do not anticipate significant changes for this career development award as it becomes a K12, any changes that may occur will be based on NCATS policies and subject to NCATS guidance. Please note that all KL2-K12 funding is contingent on NIH and/or institutional conditions, constraints, and requirements.

Eligibility

Career Development Award scholars will be expected to develop and implement a research experience supervised by a primary mentor and mentor team. The research project should be designed as a pilot project to set the stage for an individual K-award application, or in exceptional circumstances, establish a foundation for a subsequent individual R-award application. The program has three training pathways that capitalize on institutional strengths. Prospective scholars may choose, but are not required, to take advantage of one of the three, and are also free to propose their own training pathway.

Programmatic Elements

  • Core curriculum
  • Mentored research project
  • Team science training
  • Mentor/protégé support and training

Individualized Elements

  • Training pathways
    • Experimental Therapeutics
    • Digital Health
    • Health Equity-Focused Dissemination and Implementation
  • Degree and certificate programs
  • Elective coursework
  • Extra-curricular activities
  • Hands-on team science experiences

Requirements

Career Development Award scholars must:

  • Define and participate in a clinical or translational research project.
  • Identify a multidisciplinary mentor team with extensive clinical or translational research experience where one of the members is willing to serve as the primary mentor.
  • Commit to a two-year program.
  • Devote at least 75 percent of their full-time professional effort to the program (note: scholars in certain clinical specialties may commit less than 75 percent effort—but no less than 50 percent effort—if sufficiently justified by the need to maintain critical clinical skills).

Applicants must satisfy the following criteria:

  • A doctoral-level degree in a health discipline that can be applied to clinical or translational research. These degrees include, but are not limited to MD, DO, DMD, DDS, DPH, PharmD, PhDs, as well as EdDs in a clinically relevant field, such as biostatistics, epidemiology, behavioral science, and nursing.
  • US citizen or permanent resident. Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible.
  • Must be an early-stage investigator committed to advanced training and a career in translational science research aligned with the CTSA Programs goals of advancing therapeutics (drugs, devices, and preventives), clinical interventions, and behavioral modifications to improve health
  • Scholars may have had support on a NRSA grant (F or T) or NIH small grant (R03).
  • Commitment to a two-year program within the stated award period. During this time, at least 75 percent of the KL2 Scholar’s full-time professional effort must be devoted to the program. The remainder of time may be devoted to developing other clinical or academic pursuits that are consistent with the objectives of developing a career as an independent clinical or translational researcher. Certain clinical specialties may have less than 75 percent effort -- but no less than 50 percent effort -- if sufficiently justified (e.g. surgical specialties requiring 50 percent direct patient care time to keep up surgical skills).
  • The financial year for Year 1 of funding begins July 1, 2025 and ends June 30, 2026; funding for Year 2 begins on July 1, 2026 and ends on June 30, 2027.  KL2 program appointment start and end dates must coincide with these dates to receive NIH funding – and they cannot be extended.  Additionally, annual budgets do not have any ability to be carried forward and must be spent within that financial year.
  • Must live in western or central NY state and be able to attend mandatory in-person meetings throughout the year.
  • Please refer to the Important Announcement about the 2025 KL2 cycle at the top of this page.

Exclusions:

  • At the time of application, scholars must NOT have pending an application for any other PHS mentored career development award (e.g. K07, K08, K22, K23) that duplicates any of the provisions of the KL2. A KL2 scholar candidate who is already in the process of applying for an independent mentored career development grant, a P01 grant, or R01 grant is likely too senior for the KL2 award. However, please note that final results of KL2 applications will be received by applicants at least two weeks prior to the regular NIH deadlines for February submissions of other K awards.
  • Former or current PDs/PIs on any NIH research project grant [this does not include NIH small grants (R03), exploratory Developmental (R21) or SBIR, STTR (R43, R44 grants)] or equivalent non-PHS peer reviewed grants that are over $100,000 direct costs per year, or project leaders on sub-projects of Program project (P01) or center grants (P50) are NOT eligible to participate as Scholars.
  • Postdoctoral fellows may apply for a KL2 but a faculty position should not be contingent on receiving the KL2. Letters of support from department chairs must indicate this explicitly.

Funding Amount

PLEASE NOTE: As indicated, the UR CTSI is awaiting the results of its resubmission in spring 2024 (expected outcome in spring 2025) and all funding is contingent on this outcome. If this submission is awarded, the UR CTSI KL2 will shift to a K12 mechanism, and scholars will be referred to as K12 scholars. 

The CTSA Program will pay 75% salary support up to a maximum of $70,000 per year contingent on available funds. Additionally, scholars will receive up to $17,000 of non-salary support per year to be used for research, tuition, travel expenses, educational materials or other costs related to the project. 

Important Dates

  • Submit letter of intent & required materials - Monday, September 16, 2024
  • Invitation to submit full application packet - Monday, September 23, 2024
  • Submit invited application packet - Monday, October 28, 2024
  • Notification of award - Friday, January 31, 2025
  • Anticipated start date - Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Contact

If you have additional questions about the program, please contact Alfred Vitale, PhD, director of Research Education and Career Development.

Apply

The UR CTSI will release a request for applications once each program year. View the current Request for Applications.

Please note that the LOI process for this cycle has been expanded to request further documentation than in previous years. In addition to basic questions (name, email, department, title of project, mentor, etc.) the NEW submission form will also require a draft of your Specific Aims page (limit 1-page) as well as your NIH biosketch and that of your primary mentor.  All materials are required for submission of the LOI. LOIs and accompanying materials will be reviewed and scored by a team of senior faculty, and by September 23, 2024, meritorious submissions will receive invitations to submit the full KL2 application.

Invited applicants electronically submit a seven-page application and other supporting information. After initial, rigorous review by a selection committee, applicants may be asked to respond in writing to questions regarding their application. The selection committee will then recommend awardees to the KL2 Steering Committee. Applications will be ranked on the basis of the candidate’s training environment, career development plans and project proposal.

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Scholars and Projects

Nathaniel Bayer, M.D.
Project: "Caregiver Support Intervention for Families of Children with Medical Complexity"
Funded in 2023

Annamarie Defayette, PhD
Project: “Social Networks and Inflammation as Potential Targets for Suicide Prevention in Young People at Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis”
Funded in 2024

Ashley Jenkins, M.D.
Project: "Adapting Individualized Care Plans to Improve Inpatient Vaso-Occlusive Episode Care for Adults with Sickle Cell Disease"
Funded in 2023

Lee Kehoe, PhD
Project: “Pilot Randomized Control Trial of an Adapted Telehealth Dyadic Life Review Intervention for Older Patients with Advanced Cancer and their Caregivers”
Funded in 2024

Emily Knight, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: "Neural Mechanisms Underlying Speech-in-noise Processing Difficulty in Autism"
Funded in 2023

Doran Mix, M.D.
Project: "Natural History of Human Aortic Dissections Mechanics Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging"
Funded 2023

Sarah Mohajeri Moghaddam, MD, MPH
Project: “Imaging Hypoxic Brain Injury in Cerebral Malaria: Role in the Acute Phase of Disease, Death and Long-term Sequela in Survivors”
Funded in 2024

Past Scholars/Projects

Beau Abar, Ph.D.
Project: “Examining Barriers to Treatment for Depression among Older Adults”
Funded 2014 - 2016

David Adler, M.D., M.P.H.
Project: "Post-Vaccination HPV Genotype Distribution Among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Young Women in South Africa"
Funded  2009 - 2010

Aileen Aldalur, Ph.D.
Project: "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for treatment seeking with Deaf individuals"
Funded 2022 - 2024

David Auerbach, Ph.D.
Project: “Electrical Disturbances in the Brain and Heart in Long QT Syndrome: A Dangerous Synergy”
Funded 2015 - 2017

Robert Block, M.D., M.P.H., FACP
Project: “The Role of Fatty Acids and their Metabolites in the Pathophysiology of Sudden Cardiac Death”
Funded 2007 - 2010

Michelle Burack, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: “Dissociating effects of Parkinson disease therapies on motor and non-motor elements of action control”
Funded 2010 - 2012

Jennifer Carroll, M.D., M.P.H.
Project: "The Effect of a Primary Care Clinician Communication Intervention linked to a Community Based Exercise Program"
Funded in 2008

Ian Cero, Ph.D.
Project: "Network health intervention for adolescents hospitalized for suicide attempts"
Funded in 2021

Wei Chen, M.D.
Project: “Does Metabolic Acidosis Protect Against Arterial Calcification in Patients with CKD?”
Funded 2015 - 2017

Wendi Cross, Ph.D.
Project: "Building Knowledge and Skills in Prevention Implementers"
Funded 2007 - 2009

Ajay Dhakal, M.B.B.S.
Project: "Testing treatments for breast cancer with brain metastases"
Funded 2022 - 2024

E. Ray Dorsey, M.D., M.B.A.
Project: “Identify Means to Improve the Productivity of Biomedical Research”
Funded  2007 - 2009

Richard Dunne, M.D.
Project: “Research in the field of cancer cachexia, an understudied syndrome of weight loss and muscle wasting that has no effective treatment"
Funded 2019 - 2021

Adam Dziorny, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: "An integrated approach to personalized and shareable clinical decision support"
Funded 2022 - 2024

Roman Eliseev, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: "Validating NF-κB and Runx2 pathways as molecular targets in Osteosarcoma and evaluating the therapeutic potential of an approved proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib/velcade, in Osteosarcoma" 
Funded 2010 - 2012

Autumn Gallegos, Ph.D.
Project: "Effects of mindfulness on PTSD: A community-based clinical trial among trauma survivors"
Funded 2016 - 2018

Frank Garcea, Ph.D.
Project: "High Definition Fiber Tracking for Neurosurgical Planning"
Funded 2022 - 2024

Nikesha J. Gilmore, Ph.D.
Project: "Reducing frailty and inflammation in older survivors of colon cancer with ECGC"
Funded 2020 - 2022

Mireya Gonzalez-Begné, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D.
Project: "Identification of salivary and salivary gland-cell-surface biomarkers in patients with early-stage primary Sjögren’s syndrome"
Funded 2009 - 2012

Barbara Gracious, M.D.
Project:" Bone Mineral Density in Young Bipolar Women Randomized to Valproate vs. Lithium"
Funded 2007 - 2010; She is currently the Principal Investigator for the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice at Nationwide Children's.

Susan Groth, Ph.D., R.N.C., N.P.
Project: "Clarification of the Gene Environment Interaction of the GNB3 Gene and Establishing a foundation for Genetic –Based Behavioral Intervention Research"
Funded 2008 - 2009

Chad Heatwole, M.D.
Project: “The Development and Use of a Disease-Specific Instrument for Myotonic Dystrophy”
Funded 2007 - 2008

Holly Hindman, M.D.
Project: "Wound Healing Responses and Myofiloblast Activity Following Endothelial Keratoplasty when modified by using Anti TFG-B Therapies"
Funded 2008 - 2009

Leesha Hoilette, M.D., M.S.
Project: "Community Health Centers as Patient-Centered Medical Homes"
Funded  2010 - 2012

Margaret Holland, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Project: "Patterns and predictors of adherence to recommended visit schedules in a nurse home visiting program"
Funded 2012 - 2013; She is currently on the faculty at the Yale School of Nursing.

Suzannah Iadarola, Ph.D.
Project: “Parent-Focused Intervention for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
Funded 2014 - 2016

Robert Matthew Kottmann, M.D.
Project: "Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Ligands and Pulmonary Fibrosis"
Funded 2010 - 2012

Daniel LaChant, D.O.
Project: "Cardiac expenditure is a novel digital biomarker in PAH"
Funded in 2021

Feng (Vankee) Lin, Ph.D., R.N.
Project: "Role of Vision-based Computerized Cognitive Training in Preventing Cognitive and Functional Decline in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment"
Funded 2013 - 2015

Xiuxin Liu, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Project: "ATP signaling and dental orofacial pain"
Funded 2013 - 2015

Megan Lytle-Flint, Ph.D.
Project: “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health disparities/suicide prevention”
Funded 2014 - 2016

Kevin Mazurek, Ph.D.
Project: "Determining how cortical areas communicate information to perform voluntary movements"
Funded 2018 - 2020

Matthew D. McGraw, M.D.
Project: "Basal cell dysfunction in flavoring-induced lung disease"
Funded 2020 - 2022

Michael McKee, M.D., M.P.H.
Project: "Health Literacy among Deaf ASL Users and Cardiovascular Health Risk"
Funded 2010 - 2012; McKee is on the faculty at the University of Michigan.

Supriya Mohile, M.D., M.S.
Project: “Vulnerable Elders with Cancer: Patterns of Care and Comprehensive Outcomes”
Funded 2009 - 2011

Luke Peppone, Ph.D.
Project: "Evaluating the efficacy of weekly high-dose calcitriol therapy, and an individually-tailored home-based weight-bearing physical activity program in improving bone metabolism among hormone-receptor positive non-metastatic breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant hormonal therapy"
Funded 2010 - 2012

Anthony Pisani, Ph.D.
Project: "Help-seeking among suicidal adolescents: Testing the role of emotion regulation and connectedness with parents"
Funded 2011 - 2013

Caroline Quill, M.D.
Project: "Improving ICU patient outcomes using graph isomorphism analysis"
Funded 2016 - 2018

Julie Ryan, Ph.D.
Project: "Curcumin Intervention and Biological Analysis of Radiation Dermatitis"
Funded 2008 - 2009

Fahad Saeed, MBBS
Project: "The impact of palliative care on decision-making, disease management outcomes and quality of life in patients with chronic kidney diseases and their family caregivers"
Funded 2017 - 2019

Krupa Shah, M.D., M.P.H.
Project: "Preventing Functional Decline in HIV-infected Older Adults with Central Obesity"
Funded 2012 - 2013

Caroline Silva, Ph.D.
Project: "Cultural social engagement and suicide ideation among Hispanic outpatients"
Funded 2018 - 2020

Lauren Solan, M.D., M.Ed.
Project: "Development of a novel pediatric risk assessment tool to predict pediatric health care re-utilization (i.e., hospital readmission and Emergency Department revisit)"
Funded 2017 - 2019

Marc Swogger, Ph.D.
Project: "The Impact of Psychopathic Traits on a Cocaine Use Intervention for Offenders"
Funded 2009 - 2010

Wakenda Tyler, M.D., M.P.H.
Project: "Role of Angiopoietin-2 in the pathogenesis of metastatic renal cell carcinoma to bone: Implications for therapeutic intervention"
Funded 2010 - 2012

Kimberly Van Orden, Ph.D.
Project: "The role of social connectedness in the etiology and prevention of late-life suicide"
Funded 2012 - 2013

Melanie Wellington, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: "Phagocyte Receptors in the Host Response to Candida"
Funded 2007 - 2011

Nicole Wilson, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: "Computational measurement tools for in-vivo non-invasive determination of small intestine function"
Funded 2021 - 2023

Jin Xiao, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D.
Project: "C. albicans and S. mutans oral colonization in infants with high risk for severe early childhood caries"
Funded 2017 - 2019

Jeffrey Yaeger, M.D.
Project: "Improved prediction of bacterial infections in febrile infants"
Funded 2019 - 2021