The Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan is the administrative home for HEAL National K12 Clinical Pain Career Development Award. The HEAL K12 is a mentored career development program to provide protected time for early career clinicians and scientists to focus on training and conducting clinical pain research.
This award is intended for scholars who may not be ready for a traditional K-award or independent research (R) award, come from institutional environments that cannot adequately support the scholar’s career and/or research objectives, and/or who are unable to form a mentoring team that would make them competitive for a training or independent research award in clinical pain.
Additional questions about this training opportunity can be sent to UM-HEALK12@umich.edu.
Register for our informational webinar on September 11 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET.
Eligibility
- The candidate must aspire to be a clinical pain researcher housed within any educational or health services institution in the U.S. that has resources to conduct clinical research.
- Candidates will hold a doctoral degree (e.g., MD, DO, DDS, PharmD, or PhD) and be faculty within the first five years of appointment or postdoctoral fellows with a pending faculty appointment.
- Scholars must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the U.S. or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of appointment.
- The department or division Chair of the candidates’ home institution must commit to providing the candidate a minimum of 75% protected time for this training.
HEAL K12 scholars will develop their own tailored training program that includes:
- Remote didactic training in pain science.
- Completion of a clinical research project, that could be used to provide pilot data to support future grant applications.
- Didactic course work in regulatory sciences, research ethics, biostatistics, patient/community engagement and/or specialty electives relating to topics of interest.
- Attendance at career development seminars, pain conferences, and the 3-day NIH PURPOSE Conference on Pain Education (required).
- Presentation of research through local, national, and international events, UM Pain Short Course (required).
- Cross-disciplinary mentoring designed to assist with career development and research.
Application Process
The HEAL K12 award follows a 2-tier application process.
Tier-1: 2-Page Letter of Intent
- The candidate submits a Letter of Intent (LOI) that includes: A brief description of the proposed research project or the nature of the planned research. (250 words)
- A brief description of the nature of training that is needed (e.g., gaps in prior training) to be proposed in the full application. (250 words)
- Home institution mentor(s) name and NIH biosketch.
- Eligibility Statement (1 page). The Eligibility Statement describes an applicant’s need for the HEAL National K12 award and the unique perspectives their candidacy brings to the clinical pain research workforce. The candidate should comment on one or more of the following: Why the candidate needs or would benefit from the HEAL National K12 award prior to submitting a traditional K-award or independent research (R) award
- Why the candidate’s home institution cannot adequately support his/her career and/or research objectives without the HEAL National K12
- Indicate if the candidate comes from an institution that traditionally receives low levels of NIH funding for clinical pain research, comes from a professional discipline rarely represented in clinical pain research, or is interested in specializing in an understudied area of clinical pain research
- Where they heard about the Heal K12 program (conference, website, colleague, etc.).
- An up-to-date NIH Biosketch should accompany the LOI.
- Competitive candidates will be invited to submit a full application following LOI review.
- LOIs should be submitted to UM-HEALK12@umich.edu
- Invited applicants will submit a full career development grant proposal with the following: Specific Aims, Candidate Background, Career Development Plan, and Research Strategy
- Persons with Lived Experience (PWLE) Engagement Plan
- Mentor(s) and institutional letters of support
- Budget and budget justification
- Additional instructions and templates will be provided at the time of the invitation.
Tier- 2: Full Application
Review Process
- LOIs will be reviewed by HEAL K12 Directors and NIH program staff.
- Full Applications will be reviewed by the HEAL K12 study section. Finalists along with their primary home mentor(s) will be invited for an interview with the HEAL K12 Directors.
Key Dates
- Informational Webinar: September 11, 2024
- Letter of Intent Due Date: October 15, 2024
- Invitation to Apply: November 5, 2024
- Full Application Due Date: February 5, 2025
- Award Announcements: May 1, 2025
- Program Start Date: June 1, 2025
Additional program information can be found here.