K Awards – Common Pitfalls and UCLA CTSI KL2 Resources Presented by Elizabeta Nemeth, PhD Professor of Medicine at UCLA Director, UCLA Center for Iron Disorders Co-Director, UCLA CTSI KL2 Program

1. K Workshop June 2023
w ww.ctsi.ucla.edu ▪ b r i n g i n g C T S I i n n o v a t i o n s t o t h e g r e a t e s t h e a l t h n e e d s i n L o s A n g e l e s
K PROPOSAL - COMMON PITFALLS
Ella Nemeth, PhD

2. K proposal pitfalls and advice
Research plan
Education plan
Candidate’s statement
Biosketch tips

3. Research Plan pitfalls
• Aims are too exploratory or too vague
– should be hypothesis-driven, specific and focused
• Proposal solely based on an idea without preliminary data
• Aims dependent on each other
• Presumptions about aim outcomes (“This aim will demonstrate
that X does Y…”)
• Pitfalls and alternatives section does not confront the most
important pitfalls (focused on small technical issues rather
than fundamental conceptual challenges)
• Vague statistics

4. Finding the right size project
• Number and scope of aims should fit the study timeline
(avoid too limited or too ambitious)
• Are resources adequate to support the project (finances,
expertise, populations, animal models, technology…)

5. Education Plan
• Too complicated
• Rule of 3’s for the Education Plan
– 3 Aims
– 3 Educational objectives
– 3 Mentors
• Tie together aims, education objectives, mentors

6. Example of Education Plan Overview
Activity Details Description
Objective 1: biochemistry (Mentor: James Watson)
Course Biochem 101 glycolytic pathway
Seminar photosyntesis overview of XYZ
Workshop lipid metabolism mechanisms of treatment
Objective 2: statistics (Mentor: James Heckman)
Course Stats 203 survival analysis
Seminar coding in R methods for coding
Workshop data intepretation graphic analysis of results
Objective 3: Social networks (Mentor: Nicholas Christakis)
Course psych 203 social support and impact
Course sociology 404 Social network analysis
Tutorial Network structure Tutorial with Dr. Christakis on network structure, dyad analysis, centrality
Responsible conduct of research
Course biomath 505 Ethics in conduct of research, IRB, …
Career Development
Seminar K Scholars Society Grant writing, mentoring, communication, leadership and team science

7. Example of K Award Timeline

8. Candidate’s Statement
• Should not be a summary of educational/training pathway, but
show the pathway of research interests
• Highlight research findings/impact/implications
• Emphasize publication trajectory (if a concern)
• Focus on Career not Project:
– What is the BIG research question you will investigate?
– Excite the reader about your 10-year plan (Link K to R01)
• Describe separation from mentor (if needed)

9. Biosketches
• Include link to full bibliography
• Preferably do not list:
‒ Abstracts
‒ Publications that are not original science
‒ Publications that are not peer-reviewed

10. K Workshop June 2023
w ww.ctsi.ucla.edu ▪ b r i n g i n g C T S I i n n o v a t i o n s t o t h e g r e a t e s t h e a l t h n e e d s i n L o s A n g e l e s
CTSI KL2 PROGRAM AND RESOURCES
Directors Mitchell Wong, MD, PhD
Ella Nemeth, PhD
Site Directors Chris Evans, PhD Victor Chaban, PhD Scott Filler, MD Denis Magoffin, PhD
UCLA CDU Lundquist Cedars

11. Overview of Resources
• KL2 Awards
• K Scholars Society
• Grant studios
• Grant Writing Bootcamp
• Career studios (proposed)
• CTSI Grants Library
• Virtual office hours
• K and R Workshops

12. KL2 Award Overview
Career development support for junior faculty within the
UCLA CTSI Consortium
Interdisciplinary, translational science (basic, clinical and HSR)
Similar in structure to an NIH K CDA application

13. KL2 Support
• Annual award, renewable for up to 3 years (and contingent
on the UCLA CTSI competitive renewal)
• Support: $130k maximum direct costs per year
– $75k salary
– $53k benefits / research support / tuition&career development /
statistical support
– $2k travel

14. Eligibility
• Doctoral-level degree (MD, PhD, DDS, PharmD)
• Faculty title by the grant start date (July 1)
• Commit 75% of effort to KL2 (50% minimum for some
specialties like surgery)
• U.S. Citizen, non-citizen national or permanent U.S. resident

15. Eligibility (Prior/Pending Grants)
• May have had a small grant (R03, R21)
• May have had prior K12 funding, but total K12 + KL2 funding cannot
exceed 5 years
• Cannot be PI on prior or current for:
– NIH R01 or equivalent grant (direct costs>$100k per year)
– K01/K08/K23 or other NIH K award
– VA Career Development award or R01-equivalent grant
If submitted K to NIH in Cycle Eligible to Apply for KL2 2024
May, June, July 2023 Yes
September, October, November 2023 Yes
January, February, March 2024 No

16. Annual Application Timeline
• Pre-Application deadline: Nov/Dec
• Full Application deadline: late February
• Applicant interviews: May
• Awardees will be notified by late May-early June
• Grant start date July 1st (no exceptions)

18. The Grant Library
• Successful (K, R, U) grants and new format NIH Biosketches
• Secure platform for sharing grants
• Video instructions on how to request access:
– http://ctsi.ucla.edu/funding/pages/sample
• To access:
– http://intranet.ctsi.ucla.edu

19. 19

21. UCLA CTSI K Scholars Society
• Only for K/CDA awardees within UCLA CTSI institutions
• 2-year curriculum (monthly seminars):
- Training in grant writing, communication, team science, entrepreneurship and
leadership
- Work-in-progress presentations
- Mock study sections
- Open discussion sessions based on scholars’ interests and questions
- Pre- and post-grants management
- Equity, diversity and inclusion
• Professional grant writer consultations
• Open office hours with KL2 directors
• Recommend including K Scholars Society in CDA education plan
https://ctsi.ucla.edu/funding/pages/boilerplates

22. Grant Studios – Individual Scholars
• Longitudinal mentoring for K and R grant writing
• Priority for K Scholar Society and applicants to the KL2 grant program
• Studios:
- 3 Senior scientific/career/statistical studio mentors with expertise in K or R
grants
- Meet 3 times from concept to final product
- Participation in mock study section for final review

23. Grant Writing Bootcamp – groups of scholars
• Longitudinal group seminars, organized jointly by CTSI and DGSOM OPSCD
(Office for Physician-Scientist Career Development)
• K and R bootcamps
• ~4-8 scholars per bootcamp
• Meet bimonthly for ~4 months prior to each NIH cycle:
– Summer (June-Sept) for October deadline
– Fall (Oct-Jan) for Feb deadline
– Spring (Feb-May) for June deadline
• Formal rollout of the bootcamps this summer (announcement will be in
Aug/Sept to start bootcamp in October for the Feb 2024 deadline)

24. Summary of Resources
KL2 Awards
K Scholars Society
Grants Library
Grant studios (individual or group)