1. Home
  2. Services
  3. K2R Program
  4. K12/CTSA Scholar Program

KL2/CTSA Mentored Career Development Program

The University of Florida and Florida State University (UF-FSU) CTSA K12 Program provides advanced training in clinical and translational research while supporting awardees to conduct their own science to generate preliminary evidence for more advanced trials. The K12 program supports senior fellows and junior faculty from all departments, as long as the applicant has a focus on translational research to improve the public’s health.

Scholars who receive either a KL2 or CTSA Scholar award will be supported for at least two years with 75% of their salary supported and receive over $22,000 per year for research- and training-related activities.

Key Personnel

Henna Budhwani, PhD, MPH
K12 Program Director

Frequently Asked Questions about the K12 Program

To apply for a K12/CTSA Scholar Award, candidates must meet ALL the following criteria:

  • Candidate must an a U.S. Citizen, citizen national, or have permanent residency status. 
  • Candidate must have a clinical or research doctorate (PhD, ScD, DrPH, MD, DO, DC, ND, DDS, DMD, DNS or equivalent)
  • Candidate must be a junior-level, full time faculty member or provide confirmation of a faculty appointment. 
  • Candidate cannot hold an extramural career development award or have one under review at the time of submitting their K12 proposal.

The only difference is funding. Both Awards have the same benefits and expectations, but the K12 Award is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while the CTSA Scholar Award is funded by different Colleges at FSU who are willing.

When a request for applications (RFA) goes out, candidates will initially be asked to submit a pre-application, which consists of the following: 

  • Letter of intent with research overview, 
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • NIH Biosketch for candidate's Primary Mentor
  • Two (2) letters of supports
    • One (1) letter from Primary Mentor
    • One (1) letter from candidate's Supervisor

These pre-applications help the evaluation team gauge the number of potential candidates, assist them in finding gaps in their application to make it more robust, and identify how many of application reviewers will be needed for the second stage. 

After pre-applications are reviewed, candidates will be invited to submit a full applications, which consist of the candidate's career development plan, specific aims of their project, the research strategy, and other information related to their research and career training. 

Requests for Applications (RFAs) are typically sent out in the Fall semester to allow time for potential candidates to prepare the proposals.

Typically, selected Scholars are notified of their award towards the end of the Spring semester (later March-early April), with funding starting in the summer. 

A candidate's primary mentor should be the first point of contact for help with their proposal. Additionally, candidates can reach out to the previous K12 and CTSA Scholar Awardees for guidance. 

The benefit of the K12 Award is that it allows researchers the dedicated time to focus on their research. The percentage of annual professional effort that a Scholar choose to dedicate to research and career development will be supported by the award, up to 75% salary support for at least two years. 

More Information

For more information about CTSA-sponsored Career Development Awards, please contact the FSU K2R Director, Dr. Henna Budhwani, or Health Research Training Coordinator, Andrea Johnson.

Current and Former K12/CTSA Scholar Awardees

2024-2026 CTSA Scholar Career Development Awardee

Kyle Smith, PhD, RD was awarded the FSU CTSA Scholar Career Development Award for his project titled "Evaluating a Time-Efficient Breathing Intervention to Improve Immune Function and Psychological Well-Being in Individuals Living With Obesity."

Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences and operates an immunology laboratory within the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine. His research focuses on the role that lifestyle modification plays in modulating immune cell function in an effort to improve the health of the general population, cancer patients, and elite operators. This Career Development Award supports his investigation to determine whether reductions in both psychological and physiological stress can enhance immune function in obesity to improve overall health and reduce circulating inflammatory factors. Funding for this Career Development Award was provided by the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.

2023-2025 KL2 & CTSA Scholars Career Development Awardees

Kristy Anderson, PhD, was awarded the UF/FSU CTSI NIH KL2 Multidisciplinary Program Career Development Award for her project titled, “A preliminary feasibility study of an online social-needs screener and referral tool for underserved households of children with autism.” 

Dr. Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work, where her work focuses on the processes by which poverty and its cofactors impact children and adults with autism and their families. This KL2 project will develop and test the feasibility of an online social needs screening and referral tool for underserved families of children with autism. The program will be part of a larger technology-supported intervention for babies with early signs of autism, called Baby Navigator.

Jessica Bahorski, PhD, APRN, PPCNP-BC, WHNP-BC, was awarded the FSU CTSA Scholar Career Development Award for her project entitled “A Multiphase Project to Improve Use of Responsive Infant Feeding Among Vulnerable Mother-Infant Dyads.”

Dr. Bahorski is an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing. Prior to starting at FSU, she worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner in a variety of healthcare settings. Dr. Bahorski’s research program studies the developmental origins of childhood obesity with a particular focus on infant feeding practices and infant weight gain. The proposed project aims to refine the responsive infant feeding intervention, Learning Early Infant Feeding Cues (LEIFc), to make it most feasible and acceptable to mother-infant dyads at high risk for poor health outcomes.

2021-2023 KL2 & CTSA Scholars Career Development Awardees

Laura Reid Marks, PhD, was awarded the FSU CTSA Scholar Career Development Award for her project entitled "Developing Culturally Tailored Mobile Health Episodic Future Thinking Engagement Strategies for Black Young Adult College Binge Drinkers."

Dr. Reid Marks is an Associate Professor in the Center for Translational Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine. Her KL2 Project focused on developing a culturally tailored micro-randomized trial for an mHealth mindfulness app to address binge drinking among Black young adults in a college environment. After completing her CTSA Scholar project, Dr. Reid Marks now directs the G.R.O.W.T.H. Lab at the FSU Center for Translational Behavioral Sciences, where she continues to continues to conduct research into reducing alcoholism and binge drinking among college students and young adults. 

Julia Sheffler, PhD, was awarded the UF/FSU CTSI NIH KL2 Multidisciplinary Program Career Development Award for her project titled, "Pragmatic trial of an MI-CBT Adherence Program for Lifestyle Interventions in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)."

Dr. Sheffler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine in the College of Medicine. Her KL2 project focused on testing the effectiveness of a telehealth Ketogenic Nutrition adherence program to improve cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). After completing her KL2 project, Dr. Sheffler now directs the Integrative Science for Health Aging research program at the FSU Center for Translational Behavioral Sciences, where she continues to conduct research to better the physica, mental, and neurocognitive health of older adults.     

Last Updated: Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 11:49 AM