Wednesday, April 2, 2025
4/2/2025
CTSA K12 Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences - Summary The goal of the UAMS K12 program is to build a diverse cohort of successful translational scientists that enable the mission of the UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) to “develop and test translational science innovations that will drive real world solutions to enhance health equity for rural and underrepresented populations. This proposed program emphasizes gaining experience and expertise in Translational Science through interdisciplinary training opportunities, mentored research projects, individualized training, and education of mentors. The program aims to develop scholars that will be productive, funded and generate meaningful results for rural and underserved populations. Mentored research projects will be able to leverage unique resources in Implementation Science, Community and Stakeholder Engagement, Informatics, and Telehealth that are available through our TRI. The program plan includes training in the seven foundational knowledge, skills, and abilities of a Translational Scientist: Domain Expert, Boundary Crosser, Team Player, Process Innovator, Skilled Communicator, Systems Thinker and Rigorous Researcher. The K12 program includes a robust plan for evaluation to assess and improve its effectiveness in producing translational scientists with careers that yield Health and Societal Benefits. To enhance the evaluation, we are participating in a CTSA collaborative group developing competency-based assessment tools. The K12 program includes a robust plan for recruitment and retention to enhance diversity. The proposed K12 builds on the success of our current KL2 program. Since 2019, we have trained 22 productive scholars, 14 of which are still in the program, who already have received five NIH grants as PI and published 124 manuscripts. The 22 scholars include 59% women, 18% URM and an additional 14% from NIH-defined disadvantaged backgrounds, thus demonstrating our ability to recruit diverse scholars. Current research projects involve populations across the lifespan, and more than half specifically involve rural and underserved populations. The K12 program leverages the strengths of our collaborating partners by utilizing the geographic reach across Arkansas of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) and Arkansas Children's Hospital/Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACH/ACRI), incorporating the unique resources of the Partners, and receiving support for Partner Scholars. The two partnering organizations along with the Winthrop P Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the College of Medicine have enabled us to support 16 additional scholars over the first four years of the current funding period. In summary, our proposed K12 program will leverage the unique resources available through the TRI to produce a successful and diverse cohort of investigators that will produce Health and Societal Benefits for rural and underserved populations.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).