NIH Mentored Career Development Awards K Series Part 2

1
NIH Mentored Career Development Awards (K
Series) Part 2

• Thomas Mitchell, MPH
• Department of Epidemiology Biostatistics
• University of California San Francisco

2
Writing a competitive mentored K award grant
application

• 5 main sections of the grant application
• The Candidate (Sections 2 5)
• Statements by Mentors, Co-Mentors, and
  Collaborators (Section 7)
• Description of Institutional Environment (Section
  8)
• Institutional Commitment to Candidates Research
  Career Development (Section 9)
• Research Plan (Section 10)

3
Statements by Mentors, Co-Mentors, and
Collaborators

• Seek complementarity
• Choose a primary mentor who is a senior
  investigator with a track-record of NIH funding.
• Include co-mentors who will complement the
  primary mentors strengths.
• Avoid including mentors from other institutions.
• Establish a relatively small (3-4) mentoring
  committee.
• If you need to add additional members, call them
  scientific or technical advisors/collaborators,
  who have a relatively narrow area of
  responsibility and focus.

4
Statements by Mentors, Co-Mentors, and
Collaborators (Contd)

• Evaluation criteria for primary mentor
• Appropriateness of mentors research
  qualifications in the area of this application.
• Quality and extent of mentors role in providing
  guidance and advice to candidate.
• Previous experience in fostering the development
  of more junior researchers.
• History of productivity and support.
• Adequacy of support for the research project.

5
What goes where?

• Write a brief section for each mentor/co-mentor/co
  llaborator that includes the following
• Academic title and institutional affiliation.
• Primary area of research.
• Mentoring track record (include total number and
  individual names, if possible particularly for
  the primary mentor).
• Relevance of mentors research to your proposed
  training and/or research.
• Mentors role in your proposed training/research.
• Say how often youll meet with each mentor.
• See Example 1.

6
What goes where? (contd)

• Include an evaluation component that describes
  how your mentors will assess your progress (e.g.,
  quarterly meetings) include specific milestones
  during the K award (refer to timeline).
• See Section 2.D of Example 1.

7
Letters of Collaboration

• Include signed letters of collaboration from each
  mentor/co-mentor/scientific advisor.
• The letter from the primary mentor is key. It
  should cover the following areas
• His or her qualifications in the research area
  proposed by the candidate.
• Previous experience as a research supervisor.
• The nature and extent of supervision that will
  occur during the award period.
• What resources, if any, they will make available
  to you in support of your training and/or
  research.

8
Letters of Collaboration(contd)

• The following issues should also be addressed,
  which are the criteria by which the candidate
  will be evaluated
• Potential for conducting research
• Evidence of originality
• Adequacy of scientific background
• Quality of research endeavors or publications to
  date
• Commitment to patient-oriented research
• Need for further research experience and training

9
Primary mentors letter(contd)

• The primary mentors letter can also re-frame
  any potential weaknesses in the application.
• Examples
• Productivity of candidate (e.g., few
  publications).
• Feasibility of conducting research plan with
  resources of K award.
• Limited mentoring experience of primary mentor.
• Limited resources of primary mentor (e.g., no
  current R01 funding.
• Co-mentor(s) not at UCSF.
• Scientific overlap with primary mentor.
• See Examples 2, 3, and 4.

10
Letters of Collaboration(contd)

• Letters from co-mentors, scientific advisors, and
  others can be much shorter.
• Be sure to include description of the role of the
  co-mentor/scientific advisor.
• Make sure that letters are consistent with text
  in grant application (re frequency of meetings,
  etc.).
• See Example 5.

11
Description of Institutional Environment

• Evaluation criteria
• Adequacy of research facilities and the
  availability of appropriate educational
  opportunities.
• Quality and relevance of the environment for
  scientific and professional development of the
  candidate.

12
Description of Institutional Environment (Contd)

• Describe the research facilities and educational
  opportunities of the sponsoring institution
  (UCSF) that are related to the candidates career
  development training and research plans.
• Include relevance of each component to your
  career development plan.
• Describe resources outside UCSF, as needed.
• See Example 6 .

13
Institutional Commitment to Candidates Research
Career Development

• Evaluation criteria
• Applicant institutions commitment to the
  scientific development of the candidate and
  assurances that the institution intends the
  candidate to be an integral part of its research
  program.
• Applicant institutions commitment to protect at
  least 75 of the candidates effort for proposed
  career development activities.
• These assurances are stated in a letter from your
  department chair or division chief (see Example
  7).
• Note For fellows, this letter must state that
  you will be promoted from your current position
  to a higher position (ideally, to a full-time
  faculty position) during the K award period.

14
Letters of Recommendation

• 3 - 5 letters are required.
• They should be from senior investigators who have
  competed successfully for NIH funding and have
  been involved in the training of junior
  investigators.
• Can be from any period in your career (e.g.,
  medical school, residency).
• Cannot be from your primary mentor or co-mentors.

15
Letters of Recommendation(contd)

• Letters should address the candidates potential
  for a research career.
• Potential for conducting research
• Evidence of originality
• Adequacy of scientific background
• Quality of research endeavors or publications to
  date
• Commitment to patient-oriented research
• Need for further research experience and training