Institutional Career Development Core

Contact PD/PI: MCCLAIN, DONALD A. Inst-Career-Dev-001 (036)
Summary: Wake Forest Institutional Career Development Core (KL2)
The Wake Forest (WF) Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) prepares and expands the translational
workforce in support of WF’s goal to become a leading Academic Learning Health System (aLHS). During the
first 3 years of CTSA funding, we achieved great success in advancing WF’s educational goals by: selecting and
supporting 5 outstanding Scholars; implementing an innovative team-mentoring program to augment traditional
dyadic mentoring; refining our Translational Research Academy, a venue to build translational research
competencies and foster team-based multidisciplinary approaches; bringing together all research education
stakeholders to identify gaps and synergies that strengthen research training across the institution; establishing
meaningful partnerships with regional KL2 Programs; and completing regular, rigorous evaluations of the
Program. We will build on these achievements over the next 5 years to develop academic leaders prepared to
conduct research in an evolving aLHS environment. We will: 1) Administer an effective Early-Career Faculty
Mentored Career Development Program, fully integrated with the WF CTSI’s other components and aligned with
translational research education initiatives in the CTSA network; 2) Identify, recruit, and support a diverse group
of promising early-career faculty KL2 Scholars through individual development plans and resources to facilitate
their success in an innovative team-mentoring paradigm; and 3) Develop the online Translational Research
Education Enhancement (Learning TREE) tool: a one-stop customizable portal to access, manage, and evaluate
educational offerings to build and support Individual Development Plans and self-directed curricula in
translational research. We will maintain elements of the Program rated highly by Scholars, including peer
networking opportunities; regular, consistent interactions with senior faculty; connections to personal Research
Navigators, including a board-certified medical editor; and preferred access to CTSI services. In addition, we
will incorporate Scholar feedback to enhance the program. We will strengthen our efforts to build diversity in our
KL2 program, which also will enhance the environment for all URM early-career researchers at Wake Forest.
We will continue to deepen and refine our efforts at building multidisciplinary and team-based perspectives,
including a visiting Scholars program, training in team formation, and participation in team formation activities.
We will augment the research productivity of our Scholars and improve their business and management skills.
The KL2 program will collaborate with other CTSI programs to build tools and curricula, including the novel
Learning TREE. With CTSA support, the WF KL2 Program will continue to select, recruit, and nurture promising
early-career faculty with a passion for translational research, in a program that is both individualized and
comprehensive. Our vision is that these Scholars will help catalyze team science activities and become aLHS
leaders who engineer WF’s future growth and innovation.