CTSA K12 Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

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ABSTRACT Since 2008, the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio’s CTSA KL2 Mentored Career Development Program has had an exemplary track record of training and mentoring junior faculty. Our program has been recognized nationally for the diversity of its Scholars, with 55% women and 33% under-represented persons. It is also recognized for forming and co-leading a national KL2 PI/Directors Consortium Group, which meets regularly to network, share best practices, and develop innovative programs, such as the Virtual CTSA Visiting Scholars Program, in which KL2 Scholars throughout the CTSA Consortium can visit other CTSA hubs to network with experts in their field and to deliver a nationally streamed CTSA Grand Rounds. Our KL2 program has provided 2 years of support for our Scholars, with a required third year of support funded by the Scholar’s home department. To date, our KL2 program, like others in the CTSA Consortium, has focused on translational research – the endeavor to traverse a particular step of the translational process for a particular target or disease. Yet, historically, the process of translation has been notoriously slow. For the new K12 program, we have the opportunity to add a focus on translational science, the field of investigation focused on understanding the scientific and operational principles underlying each step of the translational process in order to catalyze translation. As such, we will incorporate new training in translational science based on competencies we published for a translational researcher vs. a translational scientist; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; dissemination and implementation; and leadership. The curriculum will be co-developed with the University of Utah CTSA and targeted to K12 Scholars from both CTSA hubs, T32 Trainees, and other members of the translational science workforce; once developed, the curriculum will be shared with the CTSA Consortium. We will continue our rigorous and inclusive Scholar selection process. For their research projects, each K12 Scholar will incorporate a component of translational science. Scholars will be mentored by a team of mentors, including a clinician; the primary mentors will undergo evidence-based mentor training, with an emphasis on mentoring under-represented Scholars. With the formalization of our partnerships with UT Austin, UT San Antonio, and Texas Biomedical Research Institute, we will increase the number of CTSA-funded Scholars from the current 4 at a time to 5 at a time, plus 3 institutionally funded Scholars. We will diversify the leadership of the K12 by adding a female multi-PI from UT Austin and by mentoring an under-represented former Scholar to become a K12 program leader. To continue the highly successful Virtual CTSA Visiting Scholar Program once support by the national CTSA coordinating center sunsets, we, with K12/KL2 programs at Harvard, the University of North Carolina, and Stanford, will assume management of the program, create innovative features, and evaluate program and Scholar experiences. Together, these K12 program features promise to yield investigators who will become leaders in translational research and the science of translation.