About Us
CTSI K Scholar Program Overview
The CTSI K Scholar Program offers research mentoring, career and professional development, and funding to outstanding junior faculty and senior fellows transitioning to independent faculty positions.
The overall goal of the program is training, mentoring and development of an interprofessional, interdisciplinary, and diverse clinical and translational workforce with skills to meet the healthcare and research needs of our communities, the region and the nation. The program engages talented, motivated scholars from different health science and clinical disciplines (e.g., medicine, pharmacy, nursing, public health, dental, bioengineering, and others), to join the clinical and translational science workforce to develop new treatments for diseases and innovative methods to mitigate or eliminate health disparities.
The CTSI K Scholar Program provides research training and mentoring in clinical and translational science to outstanding junior faculty in health science disciplines. Specifically, the program facilitates the development of Scholars’ professional skills and the transition to their next career level within the clinical and translational workforce pipeline.
Each CTSI K Scholar receives support to cover partial salary towards protective time, and research, tuition and travel costs for up to two years. Scholars are encouraged to apply for individual K awards or equivalent mentored awards, or appropriate R type awards during the two-year program. Scholars will have the opportunity to apply for an additional third year of funding, which may be granted upon objective review based on productivity, future plans, and availability of funding.
The CTSI K Scholar Mentored Career Development Awards Program is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers UL1TR001412 and KL2TR001413 to the University at Buffalo.
Scholars completing the basic curriculum will be awarded a CTSI Basic Micro-Credential in Clinical and Translational Science. Scholars are also eligible to complete the Advanced Micro-Credentials Program in four distinct topics (i.e., Biomedical Informatics; Community Engagement; Translational Science; Statistical Analysis for Researchers) following completion of discipline-specific Core Competency Workshop Series, credit-bearing courses up to 11 credits, and a short internship.
a. Ethics. To meet the NIH ethics training requirement Scholars are required to complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) online training every three years, and the Core Competency Workshop Series on Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). Scholars conducting research involving human subjects will be also required to complete the Core Competency Workshop Series Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Best Practices in Social and Behavioral Research (SBR) e-Learning Course when appropriate.
b. Work-In-Progress Sessions. The Scholars are required to give an oral presentation annually on the current state of their research. Scholars receive feedback from their peers, the CTSI K Scholar Leadership Team and Community of Scholars.
c. Advanced K to R Grant Writing Workshop Series. Scholars are required to participate and complete the Advanced K to R Grant Writing Workshop Series prior to submission of an individual K or R grant award. Scholars will also be required to participate in the Grant Roundtable.
d. Professional Development Workshop Series. Scholars will attend Professional Development workshops aimed at enhancing professional development, career success and job satisfaction.
e. CTSI Cores Presentations. During the first year of the program, the Scholars are required to attend presentations by the CTSI core leaders focused on how the Scholar may utilize the cores to enhance research.
f. CTSI Core Competency Workshop Series. The Scholars are required to complete the following four CTSI Core Competency Workshop Series:
- Responsible Conduct of Research
- Scientific Communication
- BERD Bootcamp
- Translational Teamwork
- Two electives of the scholar's choice
In addition, they will also complete at least one optional CTSI Core Competency Workshop Series selected based on the mentoring plan discussed with mentors at the beginning of the program.
g. Courses. The Scholars will be required to complete one of the following online courses:
- Introduction to Translational Science offered by the University of Rochester CTSA hub
- Fundamentals of Clinical and Translational Research (FaCToR) offered by the Harvard University CTSA hub.
h. CTSI Annual Forum: The Scholars will be required to attend the CTSI Annual Forum.
i. CTSI Distinguished Seminar Series. The Scholars will be required to attend seminars hosted by the CTSI in conjunction with the University at Buffalo health science schools and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Scholars will also be expected to engage with the speaker through questions or individual meetings.
j. Community of Scholars: All Scholars will become members of the Community of Scholars and will assist in the leadership and organization of events, including:
- Community of Scholars Seminars: These seminars feature speakers who are experts in their field — nominated and hosted by the Scholars — who focus on a research seminar and provide career and professional development advice.
- Dialogues in the Discipline: Focused on community outreach within the Buffalo community to reduce the impact of health disparities and increase access to healthcare.
a. Course work and short internships: Scholars will have the option to complete course work and short internships towards the award of CTSI Advanced Micro-Credentials in various disciplines which could result in a master’s degree upon completion of additional course work. Specific tracks are:
- Statistical Analysis for Researchers
- Biomedical Informatics
- Community Engagement
- Translational Science
b. Additional CTSI Core Competency Workshop Series: Scholars will complete optional Core Competency Workshop Series aimed to enhance appropriate professional development skills based on the mentoring plans discussed with mentors at the beginning of the program. These optional CTSI Core Competency Workshop Series are:
- Biomedical Informatics
- Community-University Collaborations in Research
- Good Clinical Practice
- Health Inequities
- Implementation Science
- Leadership
- Responsible Conduct of Research
- Statistics
- Teaching Effectiveness