Developing sustainable research careers for KL2 scholars: The importance of an inclusive environment and mentorship Carrie L. Byington 1,2* , Erin Rothwell 1 , Trent Matheson 1 , Rebecca Childs 2 , Erin Wachs 1 , Ruben Rocha 1 , Maureen Murtaugh 1 , David Turok 1 , Anthea Letsou 1 , Julie Shakib 1 , Rachel Hess 1 and Willard Dere 1 1 The Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA 2 The Office of Academic Affairs and Faculty Development, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (2017), 1, pp. 226–228 doi:10.1017/cts.2017.16 Introduction. The National Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Consortium 2.0 has developed common metrics as a collaborative project for all participating sites. Metrics address several important aspects and functions of the consortium, including workforce development. The first workforce development metrics to be proposed for all CTSA hubs include the proportion of CTSA-supported trainees and scholars with sustainable careers in translational research and the diversity and inclusiveness of programs. Methods and results. The University of Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), a CTSA hub, has been actively engaged in mentoring translational scientists for the last decade. We have developed programs, processes, and institutional policies that support translational scientists, which have resulted in 100% of our KL2 scholars remaining engaged in translational science and in increasing the inclusion of individuals under-represented in medicine in our research enterprise. In this paper, we share details of our program and what we believe are evidence-based best practices for developing sustainable translational research careers for all aspiring junior faculty members. Conclusions. The University of Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science has been integral in catalyzing interactions across the campus to reverse the negative trends seen nationally in sustaining clinician scientists. Our programs and processes can serve as a model for other institutions seeking to develop translational scientists. Received 2 May 2017; Accepted 5 July 2017; First published online 31 August 2017 Key words: KL2, workforce development, mentorship, inclusion. Introduction The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognized the inefficiencies of translational science as an important barrier limiting the advancement of preventive measures, treatments, and cures developed through research into clinical and community settings for the improvement of health. To address this problem, the NIH established the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) in 2006 [1]. The 64 CTSA hubs are embedded in academic medical centers across the United States and serve both as individual research hubs for their regions and as components of a national consortium. In 2013 the NIH responded to a report by the Institute of Medicine by calling for collaborative efforts to increase the impact of the consortium [2]. The resulting shift in organizational design is referred to within the consortium as the CTSA 2.0. One result is the CTSA program, including principal investigators, the CTSA steering committee, and NIH staff, began to develop com- mon metrics for the consortium [3]. A full description of all of the common metrics and how these are measured is available at: http:// www.tuftsctsi.org/research-services/research-process-improvement/ common-metrics-initiative/. The common metrics focus on evaluation of critical processes and out- comes for translational research, including workforce development. Each CTSA hub is required to provide an infrastructure for workforce devel- opment, which can train numerous investigators annually in both degree- granting and mentoring programs. A common element in all CTSA hubs is the KL2 career development program for junior faculty members. The KL2 programs across the United States have trained more than 1000 scholars © The Association for Clinical and Translational Science 2017. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work. * Address for correspondence: C. L. Byington, M.D., Texas A&M University, Clinical Building 1, Suite 3100, 8441 Riverside Parkway Bryan, TX 77807, USA. (Email: byington@tamhsc.edu) Journal of Clinical and Translational Science EDUCATION SPECIAL COMMUNICATION https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2017.16 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 52.91.109.157, on 20 Sep 2021 at 20:25:03, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at