# Pediatric Scientist Development Program (K12) 2017-2022

> **NIH NIH K12** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $550,031

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This renewal application seeks NICHD support for 5 first-year and 5 second-year positions in the
Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP), a career development pathway for pediatric fellows
from which 192 physician-scientists have graduated since 1987. The objectives of the program remain
unchanged since its inception: (a) to recruit pediatric fellows whose outstanding potential for a
successful investigative career can be developed in an intensively mentored setting and (b) to expand
the pipeline of superbly trained pediatric physician-scientists, who will catalyze cutting-edge discoveries
in child health and lead the pediatric departments of the future.
Unique aspects of the PSDP include its North American scope for recruitment of fellows and mentors,
its intensive focus on career development during fellowship, its supra-institutional governance under
the aegis of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (AMSPDC), its emphasis
on research environments outside departments of pediatrics, and its approach to mentoring that
encompasses research mentors, PSDP advisory committees, and pediatric department chairs.
Advisory Committees include a Steering Committee, which sets programmatic policy; a Selection
Committee to interview PSDP candidates; and an independent Program Evaluation Committee
measures the program’s effectiveness in ensuring fellows’ success. A centerpiece of the PSDP is the
annual career development curriculum that convenes PSDP fellows, advisory committees, and all US
and Canadian pediatric department chairs at the AMSPDC meeting. PSDP graduates have served as
PIs on 335 NIH RPGs, of which 53% are currently active. Based on total awards of NIH RPGs with
PSDP graduates are PIs, the return on NICHD investment is 8.8 fold.
Innovations for 2017-2021 include a) leveraging NICHD funding by incorporating departmental support
for up to 5 third-year fellows who will be appointed as instructors with 75-80% protected research time
and b) expanding our career development curriculum with adult-learning educational modules that
emphasize the fellow-to-faculty transition and team science, presented on site at AMSPDC and through
web-based case-based studies. The PSDP has implemented a comprehensive strategy to expand the
boundaries of child health research, to develop the research careers of rigorously trained pediatric
physician-scientists, and to produce the next generation of investigative leaders in pediatrics.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9968299
- **Project number:** 5K12HD000850-36
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sallie R. Permar
- **Activity code:** K12 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $550,031
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1986-12-01 → 2020-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9968299

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9968299, Pediatric Scientist Development Program (K12) 2017-2022 (5K12HD000850-36). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9968299. Licensed CC0.

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