Green Scholars in Translational Science Program at Dartmouth - The overall goal of the Green Scholars in Clinical and Translational Science K12 Program is to identify, recruit, train, and support high-potential early-career faculty, promoting the development and successful future of these scholars as independent investigators leading high-impact clinical and translational science. In order to achieve this goal, we will provide structured training, mentoring, and protected research time for early career faculty to support their development into rigorous, independent clinical and translational scientists. Upon completion of the program, these scholars will have demonstrated the characteristics necessary to successfully transition into research independence including: domain expertise, crossing boundaries to collaborate across research areas, practicing team science, being a process innovator and a skilled communicator, being a systems thinker, and conducting research at the highest levels of rigor and reproducibility towards addressing unmet healthcare needs. We will also leverage our unique institutional strengths to equip these clinical and translational scientists with the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to identify, study, and mitigate challenges to healthcare, including those faced by rural populations. We will leverage our expertise in healthcare research through the Dartmouth Institute, our deep experience in providing healthcare to aging, rural populations as New Hampshire’s largest healthcare system and flagship academic medical center in a designated rural area, and our interactions with the UM1 Community Engagement module to support Scholars’ consideration of challenges faced by the populations to be impacted by their research across the translational spectrum. Additionally, we will build mentoring capacity by providing mentors with the infrastructure, training, support, guidance, and other tools. Participating faculty and preceptors will be trained to use evidence-informed mentoring practices that launch scholars from all backgrounds into independent, research-focused careers. The Green Scholars Program will provide the flexibility needed to develop successful independent research careers for scientists conducting rigorous studies across the translational spectrum, while providing a foundation in key approaches and strategies aimed at promoting quality healthcare. Moreover, the mentor development initiatives will maximize the Green Scholars Program’s capacity to meet each scholar’s unique needs, and the expert mentoring teams, including near-peer mentors, will strengthen their likelihood of success. Successful development of investigators leading innovative and rigorous clinical and translational science is essential to the NIH’s mission to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. The program is designed to meet these goals by identifying and supporting the development of high-potential early-career faculty into the next generation of leaders in high-impact translational science across the translational spectrum, with a particular focus on identifying and addressing critical health issues, including those faced by rural populations.
