UF-FSU CTSA K12 Mentored Career Development Program
The University of Florida and Florida State University (UF-FSU) CTSA K12 Mentored Career Development Program, also known as the K12 Program, prepares emerging investigators to build a successful career in translational research by providing 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.
Now Accepting K12 Program 2026-2028 Cohort Pre-Applications
Currently, the K12 program is accepting pre-applications for the 2026-2028 K12 cohort from emerging scholars committed to conducting translational research. This opportunity will support selected Scholars for at least two years with 75% salary support, up to $102,064 (plus fringe), and $23,000 for research, training, and travel. For those interested in applying, please review the Request for Applications (RFA) and the Frequently Asked Questions Flyer to learn more.
For those interested in learning more about the program and receiving initial advice on their proposal, the K2R Program team will be holding a CTSA K12 Q&A Session and Proposal Design Studio on Monday, November 10th at 3 PM ET. If you would like to be added to the calendar invite, please email Andrea Johnson at ajohnson33@fsu.edu. Click HERE join the Design Studio.
Key Personnel
Frequently Asked Questions about the K12 Program
Who can apply for this program? Applicants for the K12 Program must meet ALL of the following criteria:
- Candidates must be S. citizens, citizen nationals, or have permanent residency status.
- Eligible applicants will have earned a clinical or research doctorate, including PhD, ScD, DrPH, MD, DO, DC, ND, DDS, DMD, DNS or equivalent in the prior 10 years.
- Candidates must be (1) junior-level at the rank of post-doctoral scholar, Instructor, Research Faculty, Assistant Professor and (2) full-time faculty or be able to provide confirmation from Division or Department leadership of a faculty appointment on or before May 1, 2025. Associate Professors and full Professors are not eligible for this award.
- Candidates cannot hold an extramural career development award or have an extramural career development application under review at the time of submission.
- Candidates cannot have an R01 or R01-equivalent proposal under review at the time of submission.
What is the difference between the K12 Award and the CTSA Scholar Award? 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.
Where can I go for help on my pre-application? 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.
Why should I apply for this Award? The benefit of the receiving a K12 or CTSA Scholar 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 Awardees
2025-2027 NIH K12 and FSU CTSA Career Development Awardees
Sladjana Lukic, PhD was award the UF-FSU CTSI NIH K12 Multidisciplinary Program Career Development Award for her project titled "Neurolinguistic Investigations of Aphasia and Typical Language Processing."
Dr. Lukic is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Science & Disorders, College of Communication and Information. Her research broadly focuses on neurobiology of language and language disorders, such as aphasia, in older adults. Her project aims to compare different speech elicitation methods in capturing key linguistic variables across core language processing domains and explore their neural correlates to improve diagnosis in people with post-stroke and primary progressive aphasias. Funding for this Career Development Award was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Zhaotong Lin, PhD was awarded the FSU CTSA Career Development Award for her project titled "Advancing Cell-Type-Specific Transcriptome-Wide Association Studies for Alzheimer’s Disease."
Dr. Lin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses using biostatistics and statistical genetics to developing statistical models for identifying causal risk factors for complex diseases. The goal of her project is to identify which genes within neural cell populations contribute to Alzheimer's disease (AD) to ultimately provide potential therapeutic targets. Funding for this Career Development Award was provided by the Office of the Provost.
Andrea Lobene, PhD, RD, LD was awarded the FSU CTSA Career Development Award for her project titled "Exploring the Interactive Effects of Sodium and Potassium Intake on Vascular Health in Older Adults."
Dr. Lobene is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health, Nutrition, and Food Science, Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. Her research focuses on the intersection between nutrition and cardiovascular health, and has extensive experience conducting dietary intervention studies. The goal of her project is to determine if a diet high in potassium can improve vascular health and reduce the harmful effects of excess sodium in older adults who have no history of cardiometabolic disease. Funding for this Career Development Award was provided by the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.
2024-2026 CTSA 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 K12 & CTSA Career Development Awardees
Kristy Anderson, PhD, was awarded the UF/FSU CTSI NIH K12 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 K12 & CTSA 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 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 K12 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.