Research and grant funding are the quintessential Catch-22. At an academic institution, it’s difficult to compete for research funding without a track record in research. But busy clinicians have trouble setting time aside to build experience through mentored research.
Published on November 9, 2016, investigators from multiple Clinical and Translational Science Awards institutions report the effectiveness of the KL2 scholars program in fostering researchers’ transition to independence. The report was based on information from surveys completed by faculty leaders at 48 CTSA institutions who reported on the outcomes of 914 KL2 scholars.
“It was satisfying to document the research success of the clinical and translational scientists who participated in the mentored career development program,” says lead author Carol Sweeney, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology and a member of the Workforce Development Foundation at the Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science.
The data shows that after completing KL2 training, 96 percent of scholars (558/582) remained engaged in research and 39 percent who were two or more years out from finishing the program had received independent research funding.
The survey also revealed two informative trends. Women and minorities underrepresented in medicine (URM) were as successful as males and non-URM scholars. What’s more, independent funding was granted more often from non-National Institutes of Health (NIH) sources than NIH sources.
“We knew that U clinical researchers were succeeding using non-NIH funding mechanisms, but to our knowledge it had not previously been documented that these other sources are so important across medical research institutions,” says Sweeney.
“This report shows that the KL2 program supported clinical and translational scientists in moving forward in their research careers. These data will help us further define paths to success.”
Citation: Sweeney C, Schwartz LS, Toto R, Merchant C, Fair AS, Gabrilove JL. Transition to Independence: Characteristics and Outcomes of Mentored Career Development (KL2) Scholars at Clinical and Translational Science Award Institutions. Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. 2016. Epub 11/9/2016.