THIS IS A TEMPLATE. PLEASE PERSONALIZE AS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR MENTEE.
June 20, 2010
Dear Grant Committee,
This letter is to confirm my enthusiastic commitment as a mentor to Dr. X, for her <<BLANK>> Award
resubmission. X has a unique background in that she preceded her medical school training with Ph.D.
training and post-doctoral fellowship and later decided to go to medical school to better inform her
research and direct it to Y and Z disease. She joined my lab to pursue a clinically targeted second
research career focused upon translational research in the area of <<BLANK>> disease. As an M.D.,
Ph.D., X has exceptional promise for a career in translational medicine. In the next few paragraphs I
will outline the efficacy of our mentor –protégé partnership to date and outline our plans to take optimal
advantage of the <<BLANK>> award.
Mentored Research Experience including fellowship: Dr. X entered my lab in September of 200X as a
Research Fellow. Our fellow to junior faculty transition strategy has been to re-familiarize her with the
basic science techniques while providing formal clinical research training through our CCTSI Clinical
Sciences program in the methods of clinical research and hands on experience with investigator
initiated clinical projects. Dr. X has published two first author manuscripts on her basic science work.
Completion of these publications has allowed her to shift full attention to the clinical research
component of her overall research program.
Dr. X is currently working on two unique but parallel clinical studies. DESCRIBE STUDIES AND
PROGRESS MADE.
Funding for Dr. X’s training has been: DESCRIBE CURRENT AND PROPOSED FUNDING
STRATEGY
Dr. X has taken the formal coursework outlined in her section through the clinical sciences program
related to research methods, biostatistics, ethics, research design and Good Clinical Practice. She has
also participated in two national workshops in clinical investigation. Most recently she participated in a
one week NIH sponsored course on use of tracers in human subjects.
1. Training Plan: The exceptional productivity and industry with which X has approached the K12 has
already established her as a clinical researcher with an excellent skill set. We have identified a few
areas for focus in this next three years of <<BLANK>> funding to move her to the next level and
provide her with a unique investigative skill set and preliminary data to ensure her future success as an
independent researcher.
1. a. Research plan: Dr. X has generated extensive preliminary data on: DESCRIBE RESEARCH
PLAN
1. b. Training- emerging techniques to be mastered and new techniques:
DESCRIBE TRAINING PLAN INCLUDING CCTSI RESOURCES. Additional course work in specifically
relevant information management and analysis systems (REDcap), biostatistics, continued regulatory
and ethics training
1.c. Developmental Activities:
1. c.1. Local seminars and research group meetings: DESCRIBE
The University of Colorado provides a multi-faceted educational experience including grand rounds;
research conference; journal club, and basic science lectures. Junior faculty present or teach in each of
these forums once or twice a year. Dr. X is facilitating the <<BLANK>> which serves the purpose of
enhancing Dr. X’s visibility on campus and networking with other researchers.
1. c.2. Regional and National Scientific Meetings: I will provide introductions and networking as much
as possible. X will attend a set of scientific meetings that will enrich her understanding of <<BLANK>>
and promote her career. Annually she will attend and present her findings at the <<BLANK>>
Conference. It is an exceptional setting for the integrative physiology outlined in this proposal. She will
also submit abstracts to the <<BLANK>> and <<BLANK>>. These organizations have numerous
opportunities for physician scientist training and career development at their meetings, in addition to the
scientific opportunities. We will also seek out conferences relevant to her career goals. Attending
meetings and presenting her data will allow X to quickly become an expert in the field; and it will
provide opportunities for networking and setting up collaborations.
1. c.3. CCTSI career development activities:
Our local CCSTI is piloting a new program in mentoring which will involve mentors and protégées and
the junior faculty level to optimize the K to R transition. We will participate in this program that will
address milestones, roadblocks, career development tools (social intelligence, negotiation, team
building and networking) and a specialized internal grant review of RO1 proposals to optimize career
success. We have been invited to participate based on my track record as a leading local mentor and
X’s success to date. We also have a local CCTSI Research Nuts & Bolts and CCTSI integration of
resources for optimal research success career development program.
1.c.4. Mentorship committee:
I will meet with X weekly and as needed daily an on an ad hoc basis and with other mentors every other
week. On and biannual basis we will continue with the Career committee that we have convened to
review publication and grant submission milestones. We anticipate that X will publish the 5 manuscripts
in development in the next 18 months. We expect generation of an abstract /publication on the NIH
<<BLANK>> proposal in year 2-3 of the proposal. This set of publications should fully support the RO1
proposal that we hope to have her submit in year 1-2 (based on NIH rules and restrictions).
1. c.5. Independent area of research:
Dr. X is a unique protégé in that her prior research background, individual goal and intellectual curiosity
has already led her to develop this <<BLANK>> proposal that is entirely unique from my research focus
and yet builds on our group’s strengths. As such, the question of “what she can take with her” is not
really relevant as all of this work is quite her own. In addition, as you can see by her training plan she
will further strengthen her local and national research network through execution of this project.
2. Financial support for the proposed research project:
Per the outlined budget Dr. X will judiciously use the 50,000 in research support and leverage this with
the annual 7,000 per year CCTSI CTRC support for new investigators and gain technical assistance.
She will also apply for local seed grants and national funding.
3. Nature and extent of supervision and mentoring: outlined above under 1.c. Developmental Activities:
3.a Mentor approach:
DESCRIBE MENTORING APPROACH
I view my role as a very active supervisor reviewing experimental strategy and offering input on
manuscripts, abstracts and grant proposals. I will make all of the resources of my lab and clinical
research team available to X to accelerate her progress. I will meet with her individually weekly
throughout her junior faculty transition and I am available most days for additional consultation.
Because X’s scientific background is exceptional, my scientific mentorship will be primarily to increase
her knowledge of clinical research. My most critical input will be on strategic career planning.
Along with these day-to-day interactions, we are part of larger research groups which offer additional
expertise.
4. Mentor’s training experience:
DESCRIBE TRAINING EXPERIENCE
To highlight my experience with training I will highlight five recent trainees. Other past trainees will be
summarized in tabular form (appended).
(Trainee table –attached)
5. Teaching Experience:
All clinical time spent will be in resident and student teaching clinics and on the wards. These are
excellent teaching opportunities and they will help X to qualify for promotion to Associate Professor.
She will take advantage of teaching opportunities through basic lectures to rotating residents and
students, teaching medical student path physiology and clinical correlates. Dr. X has participated in
fellow and resident teaching in clinical, conference and didactic teaching in small group formats. She
has received excellent to outstanding evaluations for her teaching. She has also mentored students
and new technical personnel in the lab with great success. Teaching and attending duties will be limited
to ensure the full complement of protected time to conduct the <<BLANK>> project and secure
additional funding for independence.
6. Clinical Duties:
The NIH <<BLANK>> Award will coincide with Dr. X’s promotion to the faculty at the Assistant
Professor level. In years 1-2 of this award, she will have clinical duties limited to ½ day clinic per week.
She will attend one month per year when she is promoted to Assistant Professor. She will have a
minimum of 75% protected time for research throughout the award period.
7. Plan for Transition to Independence:
Dr. X has developed an exciting clinical project that should provide the platform for a translational
research career involving humans. The next step is to secure funding for her transition to junior faculty.
The <<BLANK>> Award is critical because it can provide her with protected time to focus on the project
and generate additional data to support and RO1, it provides the freedom to gain the exciting research
tools that will foster her success. Over the time frame of the NIH <<BLANK>> Award the applicant will
be expected to transition from mentored research to a self-directed research program. As the mentor, I
will encourage Dr. X to expand upon interesting discoveries and seek foundation funding to
demonstrate additional independence. I expect Dr. X to be quite efficient at accomplishing the tasks
outlined in the current proposal and gaining experience in clinical research will enrich her foundation for
a transitional research career. She has already demonstrated her dedication and persistence by
applying for, and receiving, numerous pilot projects. Throughout the mentored award, X will meet every
six months with her mentoring committee for strategic advice and redirection, if needed. We will have
publication and abstract goals throughout the CDA to set up a record of productivity. All efforts will be
made to allow Dr. X to publish independently.
All aspects of the training and faculty transition plan are fluid to enhance Dr. X’s chances of success. I
am privileged to be the mentor of this talented physician–scientist.