During the past fifteen years, the GHUCCTS has been privileged to award KL2 support to 26 early-stage investigators* from Georgetown and Howard Universities and from MedStar Health, who have leveraged this opportunity in order to publish >1,000 peer-reviewed manuscripts, receive over 62 extramural grants and conduct 30 sponsored clinical trials in clinical and translational research. *Early-stage investigators are defined by NIH as "a Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) who has completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as a PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award" (https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/early-stage-investigators).
This new K12 Program builds upon the KL2 established track record in cross-institutional training and mentoring in clinical and translational research by expanding training and mentoring in clinical and translational science. Clinical Translational Science (CTS) is ...the field that generates innovations that overcome longstanding challenges along the translational research pipeline…to transform the way that research is done, making it faster, more efficient, and more impactful.
Morris ZS, Wooding S and Grant J. The answer is 17 years, what is the question: understanding time lags in translational research. J R Soc Med. 2011;104:510-20.
Early-stage investigators (MD or equivalent; doctorally-trained nurses, pharmacists or dentists; and clinically or translationally-oriented PhD researchers) from any discipline and from any of our eligible institutions, who are interested in pursuing a trans-, inter- or multi-disciplinary mentored translational research experience to facilitate and promote their career development into an independent, extramurally-funded investigator are encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent by June 1, 2026. The letter of intent will enable the K12 Executive Committee to provide helpful feedback to the applicant before the applicant receives an invitation to submit a full application (due August 10, 2026).
Given the goals of the GHUCCTS, K12 awards will favor those: 1) who propose novel trans-, inter-, or multi-disciplinary and collaborative/team research projects; 2) from any parts of the entire T1-T4 translational continuum; 3) which span departments, disciplines, and institutions; and 4) focus on clinical and translational research and science.
For more details, including application instructions, visit our K12 Scholars page or download the RFA announcement.
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