Contact PD/Pl: Castro, Mario lnst-Career-Dev-001 (002) ABSTRACT - KL2 INSTITUTIONAL CAR E E R DEV E LOPM E NT CORE Without a CTSA hub within 250 miles, Frontiers plays a critical role in addressing the science and health care workforce needs for clinical and translational research (CTR) in the Midwest. Alumni of Frontiers career development programs drive research for improvements in clinical and public health practice - advancing the delivery of innovations to the patients and communities that need them. Frontiers brings together more than 200 federally-funded investigators in CTR drawn from eight regional Midwestern institutions with strong track records of working across state lines and institutional boundaries to advance interdisciplinary research. The overarching goal for the mentoring, tool F s, and environment need ed to become successful transl ati onal researc rontiers KL2 career development program is to prov ide early stage scientists with the hers. Since 2011 when the Frontiers CTSA was first funded, 20 scholars have been enrolled and 16 scholars have completed the program. One hundred percent of graduates remain engaged in research with 93% of our graduates leading NIH-funded or major foundation-supported research projects, participating as key personnel on interdisciplinary research teams, or leading research in entrepreneurial ventures. KL2 scholars have more than 500 publications. Scholar project topics have run the gamut from methodological projects for statisticians, to basic research in gene-environment interaction, to behavioral health projects in sexual health for vulnerabl e populations. Scholars come from a diverse background of training experiences, with a complement of clinical PhDs (25%), research PhDs (35%), and MDs (40%). In this renewal, we seek to recruit a more racially and ethnically diverse applicant pool, surround these scholars with mentoring teams that provide sponsorship in addition to content expertise, and train scholars to conduct cutting edge CTR. We propose the following aims: Aim 1. Recruit a promising and diverse pool of KL2 scholars to expand CTR infrastructure for the region and the nation. Aim 2. Help KL2 scholars build exceptional mentor teams who will guide, advocate for, and sponsor scholars, so that they will succeed and stay motivated to move meaningful research into practice. Aim 3. Train KL2 scholars in the competencies needed to conduct scientifically rigorous research that will accelerate the timeline for meaningful CTR contributions for the region and the nation. Aim 4. Employ continuous improvement strategies to evaluate KL2 recruitment, mentorship, and career development with the goal of accelerating the development of CTR scientists and increasing the impact of their scientific contributions. Integration of our KL2 training program with our overall CTSA goals will help ensure a close alignment between the needs and resources of Frontiers-affiliated institutions and will increase the like...