Develop Your Career in the KL2 Program
Our goal
The OCTRI KL2 Program is designed to support early-career faculty in their transition to research independence. The mission of this program is to identify and support promising faculty who may benefit from OCTRI support and resources in their efforts to obtain independent research funding.
Key activities and outcomes
Key program activities include:
- Individual development plan
- Customized research curriculum
- Scholar-led weekly Works in Progress
- Quarterly benchmark assessments
- Extramural grant development support
- Priority support from OCTRI services
- OCTRI Research Forum seminars
- Monthly bulletin tailored to early career opportunities and resources
- Small grant program for CTRC support
Program benefits
Recipients of the KL2 Program receive a two-year career development award to pursue their translational science. Awardees are given protected clinical and translational research training time, formal didactic and experiential training, intensive research experience, and multidisciplinary mentorship. Review additional benefits below.
Benefits
- An individualized research and career development plan
- Educational programs tailored to the scholar, including enrollment in the Human Investigations Program, which offers a Master of Clinical Research, certificate, and/or non-degree courses
- Mentorship and support
- Access to OCTRI resources, including regulatory/IRB and study start up, biostatistics, research design, community engagement, informatics, and services from the Clinical & Translational Research Center
- KL2 and OCTRI Scholar community
Scholar support
- Salary support not to exceed $100,000 annually
- $30,000 research and travel expenses annually
- 0.75 FTE protected research time
- Two years (total) of funding, contingent on progress and availability of funding
Eligibility
The OCTRI KL2 Program is open to researchers from OHSU and regional partners, including Portland State University, Oregon State University, and University of Oregon. Review additional criteria below.
Candidates must:
- Be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.
- Hold a clinical or research doctorate (e.g. MD/DO, DMD/DDS, DNP, PharmD, ND, OD, DC or PhD)
- Have primary, full-time faculty appointment at OHSU, PSU, OSU, or UO
- Awardees must be at least ranked as an Assistant Professor (or equivalent) by the KL2 appointment start date
- Not have prior funding as a principal investigator on an NIH research grant including an R01 or any K series grant
Proposed projects must:
- Involve either clinical or translational research defined as involving human subjects or populations, or research that has direct application to human health
- Involve research conducted domestically
Application information
Applications are CLOSED. The next anticipated RFA release will be summer 2025.
Past RFA: View the 2024 RFA
Meet the KL2 Scholars
Review scholars, their projects, and mentors below. Scholars and mentors from OHSU unless otherwise noted.
Mitzi Go, MD, MCR
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatology
Feasibility Study on Lung Growth and Function after Antenatal Steroid Exposure in Late Preterm Infants
Mentor: Cindy McEvoy, MD, MCR
Appointed: 1/1/23
Curtis Lachowiez, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine - Hematology and Oncology
Identifying and targeting measurable residual disease following azacitidine and venetoclax therapy in acute myeloid leukemia
Mentor: Jeffrey Tyner, PhD
Appointed: 1/1/23
Bethany Sloane, DPT, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Feasibility of a powered mobility intervention for young children with cerebral palsy, Gross Motor Function Classification System Level V
Mentors: Melanie Fried-Oken, PhD, CCC-Sp; Sam Logan, PhD (OSU)
Appointed: 1/1/23
Angie Garinis, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology and Audiology
Novel Kinematic Analyses for Detection of Aminoglycoside-Induced Vestibular Loss
Mentor: Timothy Hullar, MD
Appointed: 10/23/23
Alex Speers, ND, MS
Assistant Professor, Neurology
Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of an oral Withania somnifera product in older adults
Mentor: Amala Soumyanath, Ph.D., B.Pharm
Appointed: 12/4/23
Jessica Hebert, PhD
Instructor, Nephrology & Hypertension
Determining mechanisms of longitudinal reproductive impact following recovered maternal AKI
Mentor: Mike Hutchens, MD, MA
Appointed: 8/1/24
Hunter Spencer, DO
Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics
Dried Blood Spot Testing in Peer-assisted, Telemedicine-based Hepatitis C Treatment
Mentor: Todd Korthuis, MD, MPH & Ryan Cook, PhD
Appointed: 8/1/24
Learn about past KL2 Scholars and Projects
Contact us
For more information about the OCTRI KL2 Program, please contact:
Melissa Mudd, MPH
Alliance Manager, KL2 Coordinator
muddm@ohsu.edu
C. Terri Hough, MD, MSc
Director, KL2 Program
houghc@ohsu.edu
Don Sullivan, MD, MA, MCR
Associate Director, KL2 Program
sullivad@ohsu.edu
Contact an OCTRI Navigator to connect with research resources
Awardee Site
KL2 Access to resources and tools
OCTRI KL2 Scholar featured in Science
Dr. Dora Raymaker published seminal work on Autistic Burnout.
Are you a physician-scientist?
Check out the new Physician-Scientist Resources web page.
