198 Creating a larger, more inclusive cohort to promote scholar engagement through the addition of an invited KL2 seminar fellows program

Abstract

Objectives/Goals: The ITHS KL2 Seminar Fellows program creates a larger cohort by inviting additional early career faculty to join the tailored career development curriculum. The implementation of this program seeks to increase collaboration and innovation by amplifying diverse perspectives and increased networking. Methods/Study Population: In addition to the funded KL2 Scholars awarded each year, 13–15 Seminar Fellows are invited to be full participants in the KL2 curriculum, which includes monthly career development seminars and opportunities for feedback on their research. Invited Fellows are early career investigators who were promising KL2 applicants, faculty with alternative career development funding, and/or new underrepresented faculty in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. Fellows commit to one year of participation, which can be renewed on a case-by-case basis. Fellows have been integrated into the ITHS implementation of Flight Tracker (Vanderbilt) to follow the career pathways alongside funded KL2 award recipients. Results/Anticipated Results: The key measures of success will be the rate of seminar fellows transitioning into K-level or similar career development awards and securing other subsequent funding. Preliminary data demonstrates significant collaborations between KL2 Scholars with different areas of scientific inquiry and promotion of at least half of our past KL2 Scholars into leadership positions at prestigious medical schools in the USA and Canada. We suspect that the trends evidenced by the career progression of early KL2 recipients will be expanded into newer and different translational research projects with the addition of the KL2 Fellows program. Discussion/Significance of Impact: The Seminar Fellows program presents a cost-effective way to increase the impact of an existing career development program by amplifying cross-boundary interactions to form a strong, diverse translational research workforce.