The core objective of this heavily revised and re-invigorated Stanford CTSA-associated KL2 program is
to provide high-quality personalized training in clinical and translational research and education (CTRE) to junior
faculty. Training will encompass the entire translational spectrum from T0-1 to T4, irrespective of the individual
Scholar’s current research focus. At the completion of their training, these young “CTR” Scholars will have
acquired the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to address impactful questions, author grants and
manuscripts, compete effectively for external funding, develop mentoring and team building strategies, and
understand how to develop and follow their career development plans. We aim to enable our Scholars to excel
at their research-based positions in academia and also in government, not-for-profit, and industry-based
biomedical research enterprises. We expect that the research careers of our Scholars will be focused on
innovation, discovery, implementation, and dissemination of new knowledge, a longstanding Stanford tradition.
Specific components will include:
• Didactic instruction embedded within a degree opportunity or a more customized selection of courses
• A multi-faceted mentoring program, starting with a Career Development Plan, that will meld the
perspectives of research mentors with the career mentors and KL2 leadership
• A professional development core, organized to cover all topics and competencies identified by
NCATS and the CTSAs as central to CTR including research ethics, research reproducibility,
compliance, and good clinical practice
• Training in team science, community-engaged participatory research, and regulatory sciences within
a comprehensive life-course framework.
Stanford KL2 appointments will be for two years. We are applying for 4 or 5 new positions per year to
result in nine enrolled KL2 Scholars in our training program at steady state. All future Scholars will be on a
confirmed path to become Stanford junior faculty. Rigorous short-, medium-, and long-term metrics for
evaluations of trainees and the program itself, are designed to assure continuous improvement. Our newly
reframed KL2 program will emphasize teamwork and elements of design-based thinking, under the premise that
clinical and translational medicine at all stages is a coherent scientific specialty that bridges all disciplinary areas,
spanning the life course, from the discovery of targets for treatment and prevention to effecting change at the
bedside and advancing the health of populations.