# Professional Development Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $745,819

## Abstract

ABSTRACT- PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CORE
Rhode Island (RI) has substantial health and healthcare resources, but also substantial and serious healthcare
problems, including high rates of overdose death, mental health problems, obesity, and significant health care
disparities. Aligning RI’s substantial health and healthcare resources so that they can effectively address RI’s
health and health care problems requires that critical gaps in the state’s Clinical and Translational Research
(CTR) infrastructure be closed. During Phase I of Advance-CTR, the Professional Development (PD) Core
focused on three specific gaps faced by researchers and their teams: insufficient research funding, limited
opportunities to learn state-of-the-art skills required for CTR, and lack of access to effective and experienced
mentoring. To bolster funding, the Core funded ten Mentored Research Awards (MRAs), and all ten will likely be
awarded extramural funding by the end of Phase I. The Core also provided Grant Resubmission Awards (GRAs)
to researchers with high-scoring, but unfunded, NIH proposals, and nearly all GRAs (5/6) secured subsequent
funding. To allow investigators and their teams to build skills, the Core sponsored multi-day grant writing
workshops, including one focusing specifically on Career Development Awards, and multiple other CTR-focused
trainings. To increase the availability of high-quality mentoring, the Core sponsored senior faculty to become
facilitators of interactive curriculum from the National Research Mentoring Network and the Center of Improved
Mentoring Experiences. Subsequently 105 junior and senior faculty have completed this outstanding training.
Finally, in response to awardee feedback, the Core developed and implemented a year-long, intensive training
program for junior faculty writing K awards, the Advanced-K Program. We see enormous opportunity as
Advance-CTR undertakes Phase II, with an enhanced emphasis on faculty from underrepresented populations
and on community engagement. For Phase II, the PD Core proposes the following Specific Aims: (1) Provide
funding mechanisms and enhance essential clinical and translational competencies to promote equity and
competitiveness of the RI investigator community, (2) Position junior investigators to secure grant funding and
achieve independence, and (3) Expand the dissemination of best practices in mentoring. Expected results of this
evolution include greater emphasis on community engaged research; continued preparation of junior
investigators through MRAs to attract NIH funding; expanded dissemination of training and skills to conduct CTR,
including training in entrepreneurship and community engagement; more faculty with K- and R-series awards;
and a larger, more connected state-wide mentoring network. Expected benefits to RI include enhanced attention
to health priorities and disparities, a more stable CTR workforce, an enhanced sense of community for CTR
investigators, more research funding, and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10466951
- **Project number:** 5U54GM115677-07
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** IRA B WILSON
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $745,819
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10466951

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10466951, Professional Development Core (5U54GM115677-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10466951. Licensed CC0.

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