K12 Paul Calabresi Career Development for Clinical & Translational Oncology Program

The goal of the K12 Paul Calabresi Career Development for Clinical & Translational Oncology Program is to train and mentor cancer clinical and translational scientists to become independently funded cancer researchers. This program at The University of Kansas Cancer Center focuses specifically on clinical trials. The K12 program supports the development of junior faculty through patient-oriented cancer research training, curricula and mentored projects.

Program Benefits

• Work with an experienced mentorship team and PIVOT patient research advocate to develop a translational research project.
• Obtain mentorship to develop an investigator‐initiated clinical trial.
• Receive salary support for two to three years. Note, the expected duration of this training program is 2 years. However, accepted scholars could apply for a third year of training if there is strong rationale and this will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Receive research funding of up to $30,000 per year and funds to support travel to one conference per year.

Eligibility 

• Doctoral degree such as: MDs, DOs, PharmDs, nurses with PhD; or clinical medical physicists (PhDs).
• A U.S. citizen, a non-citizen national of the U.S., or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residency at the time of appointment.
• Can devote 75% of full-time professional effort to the K12 program and its related clinical and/or translational research activities. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) will allow surgeon-scientists with active surgical duties to request less than 75% full-time professional effort under a K12 career development award for the specific purpose of maintaining specialty clinical competency. Scholars may not request less than 50% full-time professional effort devoted to research and career development activities. Scholars must provide a justification clearly stating the reason(s) for the reduced amount of effort.
• Not be or have been a PI on an R01 award or on a subproject of a Program Project (P01), Center (P50, P60, U54), mentored career development (K-series) grant, or other equivalent. research grant awards.
• Priority will be given to applicants within 5 years of finishing clinical training.

Requirements

K12 trainees are expected to:

• Meet regularly with mentorship team, including a program faculty mentor and PIVOT patient research advocate.
• Participate in K to R and K12 seminar series.
• Participate in workshops for scientific writing, scientific communication, team science.
• Submit an abstract and give an oral presentation at the annual KU Cancer Center Research Symposium.
• Submit a KU Cancer Center pilot grant proposal.
• Be open to being featured on KU Cancer Center's social media channels, website and/or Bench to Bedside podcast.   
• Take courses in translational science, clinical trial development, statistics for clinical researcher, leadership development and responsible conduct of research.

For more information, contact Ronald Chen or June Cho.

Key Dates

Application Materials Released: January 6, 2025

Applications Due: March 3, 2025

Selected Scholar Notified: March 28, 2025

Scholar Start Date: August 1, 2025

Program Leadership

Ronald Chen, MD, MPH, is the Program Director, Scott Weir, PhD, PharmD, is the Associate Director, and Lisa Harlan-Williams, PhD, is the Assistant Director of the K12 Paul Calabresi Career Development for Clinical and Translational Oncology Program. Together, they manage all aspects of the program and work closely with scholars.

Faculty Mentors

More than 40 mentors are available to trainees under the K12 program.