# KUH-TN Networking Core

> **NIH NIH U2C** · CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU · 2022 · $40,113

## Abstract

The overall goal for the Cleveland Kidney, Urology, Hematology Training Network (KUH-TN) Networking Core
is to develop systems and processes that support direct peer communication and near-peer mentoring amongst
all trainees supported directly by the TL1 component of this award, and including those institutional trainees
already supported by other NIH training mechanisms, such as Fellowships (Fs), Career Development Awards
(Ks), Short-term Training Grants (T35s), Education Program Grants (R25s), and KUH-TN TL1 alumni. This
application proposes an innovative training plan and aims to build a robust peer-to-peer support system and
near-peer mentoring network, nurtured by our faculty trainers' with longstanding teaching experience and
genuine enthusiasm in supporting junior research careers. Cleveland offers unique capabilities for maintaining
such robust network, due to the proximity of what is called the “Health-Tech Corridor”, which is a 3-mile
thoroughfare that houses more than 170 biomedical, healthcare, and technology companies, together with major
healthcare and 2- and 4- year education institutions. These entities include the Cleveland Clinic, University
Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center, bioscience incubators, including Bioenterprise
and Cleveland Clinic Innovations, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University. Thus,
Cleveland health and biomedicine institutions and companies are geographically close, and conveniently
connected by public transit.
The proposed research plan aims to create a community of practice that will link trainees, mentors and potential
program applicants, and to promote community outreach programs designed to sustain a professional network.
These goals will be achieved by three strategic approaches to peer-to-peer support and near-peer mentoring
network: 1) create a solid virtual and in-person community of practice that will ensure rapid flow of communication
and shared awareness, will foster trust in a simple and informal way, and will increase the overall shared body
of knowledge developed across the network; 2) create and maintain a near-peer pipeline from high school
through a terminal degree, by establishing outreach programs at regional high schools and undergraduate
institutions, building on the existing web of partnerships between the U2C institutions, the Cleveland Municipal
School District (CMSD), local community colleges, and other regional science and cultural centers; and 3)
develop trainees' skills as peer and near-peer mentors through cultivating their collective competence. These
activities are structured not to merely build a network of connections among the members of Cleveland KUH-TN
but rather to generate a shared domain of interest that will fuel their passion for translational research and sustain
interest in addressing the outcomes most important to people with K-, U- and H-mission diseases and those that
love them.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10489362
- **Project number:** 5U2CDK129440-02
- **Recipient organization:** CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU
- **Principal Investigator:** MIRELA AURORA DOBRE
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $40,113
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-15 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10489362

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10489362, KUH-TN Networking Core (5U2CDK129440-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10489362. Licensed CC0.

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