Skip to main contentSkip to footer content

LA CaTS Roadmap Scholars Program Applications


Currently Not Accepting Applications

The redacted 2022 Roadmap Scholars Program Instructions can be found here.


ELIGIBILITY

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, 2022) at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU Health-New Orleans, or Tulane University. One Roadmap Scholar will be designated an Underrepresented Minority Roadmap Scholar (URMRS) and will be based at any of the three institutions. An URMRS will represent at least one underrepresented minority classification as designated by the NIH. Click here for more information: https://diversity.nih.gov/about-us/population-underrepresented.

Selected Past Roadmap Scholars:

 

Name Year Institution Research Interest Current status
Sarah Jolley, MD 2015 LSUHSC-NO Chronic Alcohol Use and Critical Illness Myopathy, particularly following Acute Lung Injury Awarded K23 grant from NIAAA in July 2018.
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.
Michael Hoerger, PhD 2014 Tulane University How psychosocial factors contribute to cancer outcomes Founding director of Psycho-Oncology Research Program. Published over 50 articles and chapters early in career.
Matthew Lammi, MD 2013 LSUHSC-NO Connective tissue disease and the lung; Heart-lung interactions Promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine in Section of Pulmonary/Critical Care Allergy/Immunology at LSUHSC-NO in 2017. Secured $170,000 in extramural grants as a PI
Courtney Peterson, PhD 2013 Pennington Biomedical Research Ctr Dietary strategies to mitigate or reverse chronic disease Asst Professor in Dept of Nutrition Sciences at UAB. UAB- recipient of the UAB CCTS KL2 award in 2016. NCATS featured scientist in August 2018.

Learn more about the current scholars and their projects.

SUPPORT

The program supports 75% of the Scholar's salary and fringe up to an annual maximum designated amount (direct cost only for salary and fringe benefits). The program also funds travel to present at the Clinical Translational Science (ACTS) meeting (maximum of $2,500/year) and at another scientific research conference of the Scholar’s specialty, up to a maximum of $1,500/year. 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 of Science in 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 May 16, 2022 contingent upon LA CaTS funding being granted. 

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.

 

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 need not be routed through the institutional research office.

TIMELINE

Mid-April - Nominees and mentors will be notified of final decision.
July 1 - Salary support begins  
July 1 - Classes begin for Scholars

FAQs

LA CaTS Center Roadmap Scholar Program

Once per year there is an RFA for each of the LACaTS funded scholars.

You can visit the LA CaTS Center website home page and look at the Funding and Training Opportunities heading for new announcements; you can also subscribe (in the top left corner) to receive email notifications of all new opportunities OR email info@lacats.org.

The LA CaTS PD Core awards three Roadmap Scholarships (one from each institution: Tulane University, Pennington Biomedical and LSU Health New Orleans) each year. Please refer to the instructions on the specific RFA for eligibility and requirements.

Roadmap Scholars - applicant should hold an MD, PhD, DDS or PharmD and should be a junior faculty in one of the three institutions: Pennington Biomedical, LSU Health New Orleans, and Tulane University. Scholars from other institutions are welcome to apply to the Master of Science in Clinical Research program at Tulane University.

No, all Roadmap scholarship applications should be submitted by a candidate from one of the following three partner institutions: Pennington Biomedical, LSU Health New Orleans, and Tulane University. However, you are allowed to have mentors/collaborators outside of the LA CaTS institutions on the project. Scholars from other partner institutions are welcome to apply to the Master of Science in Clinical Research and the Certificate in Clinical Research programs offered through Tulane University, but are not eligible for LA CaTS support..

Yes, a Roadmap Scholar should be in a faculty position at the time of application. Applicants who do not have a faculty position but have a letter from the institution pledging that the applicant will be appointed in a faculty position by the start date of the award will be considered.

Members of an Internal Advisory Board (IAB) review the applications. The IAB is comprised of senior faculty and center directors from Tulane University, Pennington Biomedical and LSU Health New Orleans.

The Roadmap award decisions will be announced typically two months following grant submission deadline. An email will be sent directly to each applicant notifying them of the decision.

Yes, all applicants will receive a summary of reviewer comments by email after the awarded applications have been announced.

Unless stated otherwise in the RFA, the start date for a Roadmap Scholarship would be July 1st. The Roadmap Scholar funding is for a period of two years.

Unless stated in the RFA instructions, appendices are typically allowed for documents such as manuscript reprints, letters, IRB/IACUC approvals, questionnaires, etc. Appendices do not count toward the allotted page limit for the Research Plan.

No, references are not to be counted in the specified page limit.

Yes, NIH style biosketches are required for the applicant as well as each mentor. Biosketches should be submitted on the NIH template.

Yes, eligible scholars who are not supported by LA CaTS are welcome to apply to the Master of Science in Clinical Research and the Certificate in Clinical Research programs offered through Tulane University. Please visit http://tulane.edu/som/adcr/ or contact DeNean La Roche at dlaroch1@tulane.edu for further information.

All applications should be directly submitted via to CareerDevel@LACaTS.org.

No, only direct costs are allowed for Roadmap scholarships.