Clinical Research Scholars Program (CTSI KL2 Program)

The Clinical Research Scholars Program (CRSP) is a multidisciplinary career development program that prepares scientists from a broad range of disciplines, specialties, and subspecialties for independent careers in clinical and translational research. It brings together scholars from the various schools at the University of Pittsburgh, including all of the schools of the health sciences as well as the Swanson School of Engineering and the School of Social Work.

CRSP scholars engage in diverse types of multidisciplinary clinical and translational research, including animal model research, clinical trials, patient-oriented research, epidemiologic studies, health services research, and translational research. The scholars pursue educational offerings pertaining to research ethics and regulations, to best practices in clinical research, and to the development of management and leadership skills. Scholars have the option of pursuing an MS in clinical research during the program.

The program offers 75% protected time and salary support for up to 5 years, provided satisfactory progress is made. It also covers tuition, pilot research funds, travel funds, and consultative support for research development.

The CRSP employs an extensive team-mentoring model. Each scholar has a mentoring team of at least two faculty members from different disciplines that pertain to the scholar’s research. Scholars meet with their mentoring teams at least once a month and their primary mentors weekly. The program requires that the mentoring team meet as a group to provide the scholar with multidisciplinary feedback and to facilitate open communication among all parties. This model has proved effective in helping scholars pursue research that moves along the continuum from basic research to community-based research, thereby furthering the national goal of using biomedical advances to improve public health.

The CRSP Multidisciplinary Advisory Committee includes senior faculty representatives from over 20 disciplines and all six schools of the health sciences. The committee assists in the selection of CRSP scholars, provides guidance and direction for the scholars, monitors the program, and recommends program changes to meet the scholars’ needs. Committee members attend scholars’ presentations twice a month, affording them a close association and in-depth knowledge of the scholars and their research. This enables the members to offer alternative perspectives on the scholars’ work and to make introductions across disciplines when necessary.

Grants Awarded to CRSP Scholars Since 2006

Source	Number
Federal Agency	83
Foundation	44
Industry	10
Other external source (e.g., state agency)	5
Internal source (University/UPMC)	29

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