Stanford K12 Clinician-Scientist Career Development Program - PROGRAM SUMMARY / ABSTRACT Objective: The principal mission of the Stanford K12 Clinician-Scientist Career Development Program is to fund a premier clinician-scientist/clinician investigator training program, designed to leverage excellence in basic, translational and clinical research to develop new clinician-scientists who will emerge as productive, independent physician scientists and strong leaders across the eye and vision research community. Rationale & Design: Through this institutional career development award, we will incorporate a rigorous program with outstanding vision research faculty serving in various mentor and supervisor roles, comprehensive eye and vision courses, and significant clinical ophthalmologic exposure to facilitate future applications of vision research. The Byers Eye Institute along with the broader vision research community at Stanford University has a proven record of success in mentoring, along with sufficient external support to support all scholars. Key Activities in the Training Plan: In this program, participating faculty will lend their expertise by serving across Mentoring Groups, an Executive Committee, and an External Advisory Board to help build, review and support each Scholar's career development plan. As recent K-awardees, additional junior faculty will also serve in the Near-Peer Mentoring Committee to lend additional advice and guidance and build a community of mutual support for Scholars. Scholars will be partnered with mentors appropriate to their scientific focus and will be trained in basic or clinically relevant research, as well as additional essential skills meant to propel their transition to independence, such as statistics, scientific writing, grantsmanship, ethics, leadership and the responsible conduct of research. Each program will be customized for each Scholar according to their specific interests, skills and background, needs, and career goals. Planned duration of appointments and projected number of scholars: With an emphasis on recruiting strong applications from applicants with a wide variety of scientific backgrounds, a maximum of 2 postdoctoral Scholars will be selected each year after their completion of residency or a post-residency clinical fellowship in ophthalmology. K12 Scholars will typically spend 2 years in the program. Intended scholar outcomes: Successful outcomes will be measured by productivity in papers and presentations, successful transition to independent K awards and later conversion to R-funded research, and impact on the field of eye and vision research as well as clinical ophthalmology. Stanford has robust mentoring systems, strong curriculum, and solid infrastructure in place to prepare Scholars for research independence. Together, the program's myriad resources will create a supportive environment for K12 Scholars throughout the duration of the program.
