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Building an institutional K awardee program at UC Davis through utilization of CTSA resources
Betty P Guo1, Julie Rainwater1, Stacey Neves1
1Office of Research, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
|November 4, 2021
Summary
Institutional commitment to K scholar programs and use of Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) resources significantly boosts NIH funding success for early career investigators. This highlights the value of dedicated research support platforms.
Area of Science:
- Translational Science
- Clinical Research
- Investigator Development
Background:
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides mentored career development awards to support early-stage researchers.
- The UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC), established in 2006, serves as a key resource for investigators.
- An institutional platform was developed to support K scholars, building upon existing CTSC infrastructure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the subsequent NIH funding success of K scholars trained at UC Davis.
- To determine the extent to which CTSC research resources were utilized by these scholars.
- To assess the association between CTSC resource utilization and funding outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A database was compiled using NIH RePORTER, tracking UC Davis investigators who received specific NIH career development awards (K01, K08, K23, K25, K99, KL2, K12).
- Data on the use of CTSC research resources and subsequent NIH funding success were collected and analyzed.
- A total of 94 K awardees and 103 mentored clinical research scholars were included in the study period (2007-2020).
Main Results:
- 65% (61 out of 94) of K awardees secured subsequent NIH funding, with most receiving another individual K award.
- Scholars who received further funding were more likely to have utilized CTSC resources (73%) compared to those who were not funded (48%).
- Biostatistics and Biomedical Informatics were the most frequently accessed CTSC resources, with 55% of scholars using at least one resource.
Conclusions:
- An institutional commitment to establishing a K scholar platform is linked to higher NIH funding rates.
- The utilization of CTSC research resources is positively associated with the success of early-career investigators in obtaining NIH funding.
- These findings underscore the importance of integrated research support services for career development in translational science.