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2025 LA CaTS ROADMAP SCHOLAR APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Application packets must be received by 5:00pm on Monday, February 3, 2025.

SUPPORT
SELECTION PROCESS
APPLICATION
FILE FORMAT
IMPORTANT DATES
RELATED FILES

 

ANNOUNCEMENT
The LA CaTS Roadmap Scholars program provides the opportunity for junior faculty, together with their mentors, to design an individual research Roadmap that includes completion of a Master’s of Science - Clinical Research degree covering courses in clinical research methodology, molecular medicine, ethics, protocol design, grant writing as well as mentored research; and execution of a concentrated training plan and research project. When complete, we anticipate that Roadmap scholars will have competed successfully for an NIH Career Transition (K) award or its equivalent, permitting continued protected mentored career development. We are encouraging underrepresented individuals in all areas of research to apply.

ELIGIBILITY

Three to four Roadmap Scholars will be chosen each year. Applicants should hold an MD, DO, PhD, DDS, or PharmD. Please refer to any NIH K award guidelines for eligibility criteria. Applicants may be current members of the faculty or candidates for appointment to the faculty (prior to July 1, 2025) at any of the LA CaTS affiliated institutions. Please refer the LA CaTS webpage for a list of all affiliated institutions: https://www.lacats.org/about/institutions/. A scholar may be selected from any of the affiliated institutions, but the institution must be able to sup

SUPPORT

The program supports 75% of the Scholar's salary and fringe up to an annual maximum designated amount determined by the LA CaTS Center in conjunction with the scholar’s institution. The program also funds travel to present at the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) meeting and at another scientific research conference of the Scholar’s specialty. In addition, the Scholar’s mentor will receive a one-time allocation of $10,000 (direct cost only) to support the Roadmap Scholar’s research and career development. The program also covers costs of tuition for courses in the Master’s of Science - Clinical Research curriculum.

Support is provided for 2 years, by the end of which we anticipate that the scholar will have competed successfully for an NIH Career Transition (K) award or its equivalent, providing continued protected mentored career development for a total of at least 5 years and providing protected time for advancement to an R01 or equivalent award.

SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process will be competitive and composed of two rounds. First, our Professional Development Internal Advisory Board (IAB) will evaluate and prioritize the candidates. The IAB is composed of COBRE Directors, Center Directors, and Department Chairs. Those candidates who are selected to continue to the second round will be invited to interview with the Directors of the Professional Development Core. Scholar awardees will be notified by approximately April 25, 2025.

APPLICATION

Each application must include the following:

  1. Cover page with title of research project, and name, title and institution of nominee.
  2. NIH Biosketch with personal statement of the applicant
  3. NIH Biosketch(s) of ALL proposed mentors
  4. Abstract of intended translational research (30 line limit)
  5. Proposed performance site(s) for the research project
  6. Name(s) and role(s) of the mentor(s) that will guide the nominees’ research training
  7. Research proposal follows the format of any K NIH Application: Specific Aims, Significance, Innovation and Research Approach (Note, our limit is 3 pages, excluding references)
  8. Career Development Plan: Present a systematic plan that: (a) shows a logical progression from the candidate’s prior research and training experiences to the training and research experiences proposed for the mentored phase of the award and subsequently to independent investigator status and (b) justifies the need for further mentored career development to become an independent research investigator (1 page limit)
  9. Support letters: In addition to letters from the applicant’s Mentor(s), we require letters from the applicant’s Dean, Department Chair, and Section Chief pledging support for the career development and protection of 75% time for the 2 years of this award and for up to an additional 3 years if the Scholar is awarded support for further training.
  10. Mentorship Agreement: Completed and signed by applicant and each mentor.
  11. Roadmap Scholar Applicant Demographics: Click on link to complete online form.

FILE FORMAT
All documents should be compiled (in above order) into a single PDF file.
The format of the application should conform to NIH SF424 guidelines, as closely as possible.

File Name

Save the file and use file name “nominee last name_ nominee first name_ nominee institution_ roadmap” (ex: Doe_John_MyUniversity_Roadmap).  Be sure to only use standard characters in file names: A through Z, a through z, 0 through 9, and underscore (_). Do not use any special characters (example: “&”, “-“, “*”, “%”, “/”, and “#”) or spacing in the file name, and for word separation use underscore (example: “My_Attached_File.pdf”) in naming the attachments.

Font

Use an Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia typeface, a black font color, and a font size of 11 points or larger. (A Symbol font may be used to insert Greek letters or special characters; the font size requirement still applies.)

Paper Size and Page Margins

Use standard paper size (8 ½" x 11).

Use at least half inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right) for all pages. No information should appear in the margins, including the PI’s name and page numbers.

Page Formatting

Since a number of reviewers will be reviewing applications as an electronic document and not a paper version, applicants are strongly encouraged to use only a standard, single-column format for the text. Avoid using a two-column format since it can cause difficulties when reviewing the document electronically.

Application packets should be sent via email to CareerDevel@LACaTS.org. Applications do not need to be routed through the institutional research office.

Important Dates:

  • Informational Webinar 1 - "LA CaTS Roadmap Scholar Application FAQs": Thursday, December 19, 2024 at noon (Zoom meeting link)
  • Informational Webinar 2 - "LA CaTS Roadmap Scholar Application FAQs": Friday, January 10, 2025 at noon (Zoom meeting link)
  • Applications Deadline: 5:00pm on Monday, February 3, 2025 (submit via email to CareerDevel@LACaTS.org)
  • Nominees and Mentors Notified by: Friday, April 25, 2025 (approximately)
  • Salary support begins: July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027
  • Classes begin for Scholars: Tuesday, July 1, 2025

 

SELECTED PAST ROADMAP SCHOLARS:

Name

Year

Institution

Research Interest

Current Status

 

Jacob T. Mey, PhD, RD

 

2022

Pennington Biomedical Research Ctr

 

Nutrition and Asthma

Awarded in July 2023 the NIH K01 grant for $709,000 for 5 years to assess the biological mechanism defining the diet-asthma relationship.
Crystal Y. Zheng, MD

2021

Tulane University

Infectious Disease

Co-Investigator for West African Emerging Infectious Disease Research Center (WAEIDRC) 1U01AI151812-01 from Aug 1, 2020 – April 30, 2022, and Co-investigator for Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) Early Career Investigator Mentored Research Award from Mar 1, 2022 – Mar 1, 2023.

 

Christine Bojanowski, MD

 

2019

 

Tulane University

 

Chronic infections and Cystic Fibrosis

Promoted to Co-Director of Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center in 2020. Awarded elite, $130K Gilead Research Scholar Program in Cystic Fibrosis in 2021. Selected as a Scholar for the Tulane University School of Medicine Scientist Pipeline Program.

 

Amanda Staiano, PhD

 

2015

Pennington Biomedical Research Ctr

Childhood Obesity and Health Behavior

Awarded $4.5M subaward for 5-yr PCORI grant, A Pragmatic Family-Centered Approach to Childhood Obesity Treatment.

 

Maissaa Janbain, MD

 

2015

Tulane University

Hemophilia and Anti- fibrinolytic Therapy

Secured $200,000 in extramural grant funding as a PI. Selected as a Scholar for the Tulane University School of Medicine Scientist Pipeline Program.

 

Courtney Peterson, PhD

 

2013

Pennington Biomedical Research Ctr

 

Dietary strategies to mitigate or reverse chronic disease

Promoted to Associate Professor in Dept of Nutrition Sciences at UAB. NCATS featured scientist in August 2018. In 2021, awarded $4.2M grant for 5-yr NCI grant.


Learn more about past and current scholars and their projects.

Related files:

 
Roadmap Sample Support Letter_Mentor_July2021.pdf
Roadmap Sample Support Letter_Dean_July2021.pdf
Roadmap Sample Support Letter_Chief_July2021.pdf
Roadmap Sample Support Letter_Chair_July2021.pdf