K12 PROGRAM
There is a national need to increase the clinical and translational research workforce – to prepare our future research leaders to address health care challenges. A key step in this process is providing early-career investigators with the support and skill sets required to translate their research discoveries into clinical treatments.
The K12 Mentored Career Development Award at VCU is a two-year award funded and administered by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) and the Wright Center. The K12 award provides talented junior faculty investigators a mentored, research-intensive experience in a multidisciplinary setting. It enables the development of future leaders in clinical and translational research.
NCATS defines translational research as “the process of turning observations in the laboratory, clinic and community into interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public.” And the K12 Program engages a diverse pool of faculty mentors and mentees across a range of disciplines to approach science through a “disease-agnostic,” translational lens.
The last round of scholars was chosen in the summer of 2021. The Wright Center expects to choose another cohort of scholars in 2023.
Read eligibility requirements first.
Know how the program supports you and what it expects.
Find the full 2021 timeline and application details here.
We answer them.
Meet our current scholars.
See VCU’s K12 alumni.
Watch a seminar series about applying for a K Award.
Read more about the program from its alumni faculty.
Listen to the VCU School of Medicine Office of Faculty Affairs interview the 2018 K12 Scholars.