ELIGIBILITY

1.  United States citizen or permanent resident

2.  Conduct human relevant clinical and/or translational research*.  

*K12 Scholar research projects must receive prior approval from NIH and NCATS. Consequently the proposed Scholar research projects need to fall within the NIH priorities and guidelines for funding. The K12 P.I. and Program Directors are available for consultation regarding this if desired. 

3.  Have a clinical doctorate, PhD or its equivalent (MD, PhD, DO, DDS, DVM, OD, DC, PharmD, DNP).

4.  Junior faculty (Assistant Professor with salaried appointment in rank ≤ 6 years) with very strong potential to establish and lead funded research programs in clinical/translational science. Applicants must have a paid or official affiliate faculty appointment (rank of Assistant Professor 9403, Clinical Assistant Professor 9403C, or Research Assistant Professor 9403R) OR have a signed and accepted offer letter (conditional offers are not accepted) at the University of Minnesota at the time of application with a start date before the start of the grant (must provide copy in application). Eligibility includes affiliated faculty at the VA, HCMC, Regions Hospital, and the Children’s Hospitals of Minnesota. Faculty members holding adjunct appointments or Research Associates without a signed offer letter as above are ineligible.

5.  Identify at least two mentors from different disciplines with very strong research experience, significant active (primary mentor at least) or recent funding and track record of trainees at the rank of Associate Professor or higher, and a third faculty data health scientist (biostatistician or informatician) mentor. If unsure about mentor choice, contact David Ingbar, MD, Associate Director, CTSI,  Kelvin Lim, MD or Tetyana Shippee, PhD,  Co-Directors of the K12 Program.

6.  Commit to spending 75% of full-time professional effort conducting research and research career development activities as a CTSI K12 scholar for 3 years and ongoing research thereafter with submission of major K and R grants (&/or equivalents).

7.  Not be, or have been, a principal investigator on an R01, R21, R29 or subproject of a Program Project (P01), Center Grant (P50, P60, U54), mentored career development grants (K-series), or other equivalent research grant awards or career development awards such as those from ACS, ADA, AHA, etc. Those serving as PI of an NIH R03 grant are eligible to apply for this K12 grant.

8.  Individuals with a pending individual K, R21, or R01 are allowed to apply to the K12 but can not be appointed to the K12 while their application is still pending (per NIH policy).  If the K12 were to be offered, then the applicant has the option to: 1) accept the K12 after withdrawing their pending individual K, R21, or R01 OR 2) be placed on the top of the “waitlist” for the next available K12 slot in that application cycle if their pending K, R01 or R21 is not funded and is no longer under consideration for possible funding.  Contact Megan Larson at mclarson@umn.edu with questions.  

9.  A strong, individualized career development plan, including significant formal training in areas such as biostatistics, informatics, trial design, and other new relevant skills/knowledge is required.  Obtaining an advanced degree as part of the training is strongly encouraged, as appropriate.

10.  Commitment to a minimum of 3 years of research training directed to the goal of obtaining NIH R01 or equivalent funding. 

11.  Agree to have career development tracked by program and to annually provide updated CVs and complete questionnaires for at least 10 years post program completion.

12.  Participants are required to apply for significant career development grant support as Principal Investigator within the first 12 months of receiving a K12 award - such as NIH individual K or other major equivalent, such as national VA, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, or American Diabetes Association Career Development Awards.  In selected cases application for a NIH R01 (or equivalent) may be substituted with advance approval.  If funding is received within the first 12 months, scholars must commit to complete their first year of career development programming.  NIH permits overlap of K awards and R01 funding in the last 2 years of the K award with some adjustment in effort and funding.  However, Scholars with R01 or equivalent funding in place are not eligible for year 3 internal UMN funding as this year is intended to help Scholars secure R01 or equivalent funding. Scholars with R21 funding as P.I. will be considered for possible year 3 internal K funding on a case-by-case basis, but this funding is not guaranteed.

This opportunity is open to all eligible persons regardless of race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristic.