Project Summary/Abstract Through the Duke KURe program, Duke University provides structured mentoring, customized research training, and individualized career development for early career level MD, PhD, and MD/PhD faculty and postdoctoral fellows who are committed to an independent research career in benign urology. During the past funding period, we have supported 6 KURe Scholars including 1 underrepresented minority. Three Scholars have acquired independent funding and we currently support 3 Duke KURe Scholars. This competitive renewal of the Duke KURe program continues our three major goals: 1) Foster diversity by identifying and recruiting scholars from diverse backgrounds and by providing individualized mentoring and career development support in an environment of team science. 2) Train the next generation of benign urology researchers by fostering multidisciplinary research emphasizing the importance of diverse scientific methods. 3) Prepare KURe Scholars to lead their own multidisciplinary research teams and become the mentors and leaders of tomorrow. At any one time, we plan to support three Scholars. Each Scholar chooses a KURe mentor from a core group of recognized senior investigators. A second mentor is chosen to maximize multidisciplinary opportunities and collaborations, and to support clinical, translational, and basic science approaches. The Duke KURe mentors have significant expertise in 4 main areas of benign urology: 1) Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction, 2) Urinary Tract Infection/Inflammation, 3) Pediatric Urology, and 4) Stone Disease. In addition, our mentors employ different approaches and can guide our Scholars using 1) Basic/Translational Research, 2) Clinical Trials, 3) Health Services Research, and 4) Systems Biology. As part of the leadership team, the Duke KURe program includes an experienced faculty career coach, who designed the Leadership Enhancement and Career Development Coaching Program for KURe Scholars. This is a critical component of our successful program. The Duke KURe career development program spans two to five years depending on the Scholar’s educational needs. It consists of intense hands-on research, structured mentoring, didactic course work, seminars, and workshops on scientific and career development related subjects, and training in responsible conduct of research. At completion of the program, the Scholars are expected to have published in peer-reviewed journals and obtain independent funding. Scholars’ progress is monitored by the Program Director and the Advisory Committee. Program leadership receives frequent feedback from both mentors and Scholars. Program improvements are made based on such feedback, recommendations by the career coach and the Advisory Committee, and the results from an independent external review. The Duke KURe is a successful, vibrant program that has expert mentors, experienced leadership, and the institutional commitment to ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scien...