Overview
The KL2 Scholars Program provides promising young clinical and translational investigators the training, mentoring, and protected time to develop an independent research program. The overall goal of the TRI KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Scholars Program is to increase the number and quality of independently funded clinical research investigators and translational scientists.
TRI KL2 Awards provide two years of didactic and mentored research training for post-doctorates or professional doctorates (MD, PharmD, DrPH, DO, etc.) who are committed to academic careers in multidisciplinary clinical or translational science. Didactic course work leading to an additional PhD, MS, MPH or graduate certificate may be pursued. Generous financial support and benefits are provided for junior faculty.
Salary and Benefits
- 75 percent of the scholar’s salary (up to the current NIH salary cap, including fringe). If the scholar’s salary exceeds the current NIH salary cap, the scholar’s department/division will need to support the difference.
- Up to $25,000 per year for research, tuition, travel expenses and education materials in support of the scholar’s career development plan.
Requirements
- A doctoral-level degree in a health discipline that can be applied to clinical or translational research. These degrees include, but are not limited to, MD, PhD, PharmD, DrPH, or DO.
- Must be a United States citizen, non-citizen national or permanent resident. Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible.
- Must be committed to a career focused on clinical or translational investigation.
- Must be a full-time UAMS faculty member at the rank of instructor or above, able to devote 75 percent professional effort to the program for a minimum of two years.
- Must have the support of a mentor approved by the program, and the approval of their department chair.
- Candidates are not allowed to have served as principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01, K series or sub project of a P or M series grant.
Please contact Crystal Sparks (csparks@uams.edu) for additional information.
Current Career Development Scholars
2022 Scholars
2021 Scholars
Meet our past Scholars
Nik serves as a Program Manager where he supports TRI’s Workforce Development Programming Team. This includes assisting in the KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Scholars Awards Program, the Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Sciences Program (MS-CTS), the Translational Research Innovations and Partners Program (TRIP), the Path 2 K program, and two Recurring Seminar Series (Research Fundamentals and TRI innOVATIONS). Nik brings 8 years of managerial and customer service
experience to help support our scholars’ success. He holds a Master of Healthcare Administration Degree from the UAMS as well as a Bachelor’s in Biology from Hendrix College.
Crystal serves as TRI’s Assistant Director of Programs, where she provides administrative leadership of the KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Scholar Awards Program, the Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Sciences Program (MS-CTS), and the TRI Translational Research Innovations and Partners Program (TRIP). She brings 10+ years’ experience in administrative and fiscal leadership, including quality and process improvement, compliance, fiscal oversight, and grant and project management. She holds a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from UALR and has completed additional graduate certificate studies through UAMS and the University of South Carolina.