SSG Grant writing club, March 2011
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What is a K99 and reasons to write a K99 / R00
NIH information
UAB help
My own experience
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13 things I wish I had known about writing a K99
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New award
I am only a postdoc, with 1 K99 submission
NIH don’t seem to know a lot, and I certainly
don’t
Opinion from talking to others within and
across NIH and UAB
Flexibility is important
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It’s prestigious
It’s an achievement in its own right
It offers up to 5 years funding
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Job security
Opportunity to do your Science
Don’t need to be faculty
*Should* make finding a faculty position easier
Provides a great basis for future applications
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2 phase research plan
Mentored K99 phase 1-2 years
Research study 1-3 years
12 pages
Career development & Research plan (equal
emphasis)
Additional sections: institutional commitment,
institutional environment
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People seem ‘unsure’
Different answers about all aspects
Difficult to find a PI / mentor with good experience or
advice
“The primary purpose of the Pathway to Independence
Award (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain
a strong cohort of new and talented NIH-supported
independent investigators. The program is designed to
facilitate a timely transition from a mentored
postdoctoral research position to a stable
independent research position with independent NIH
or other independent research support at an earlier
stage than is currently the norm. ”
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An R01 application, where you are one baby
step away from being able to do it / get it
funded.
Farah Lubin: “I am there. I just need to do this
tiny thing”.
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Classic example: R01 for the effects of a cell, finish
making that cell
Alternative: I want to do an R01 as a tenure-track
faculty member, [but mean David Allison won’t give
me a position] and I need a year to get that position
Other interpretations
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SOLEY:
Specifically a training mechanism
Skills transfer mechanism
Change from clinical -> research
Chance to get pilot data
Chance to decide what you want to do
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National Cancer Institute (NCI)
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI),
National Institute on Aging (NIA),
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
(NIAMS)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB),
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD),
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
(NIDCD),
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR),
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK),
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS),
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS),
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS),
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR),
(http://ninr.nih.gov/)
National Library of Medicine (NLM),
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM),
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR),
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National Cancer Institute (NCI)
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI),
National Institute on Aging (NIA),
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
(NIAMS)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB),
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD),
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
(NIDCD),
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR),
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK),
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS),
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS),
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS),
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR),
(http://ninr.nih.gov/)
National Library of Medicine (NLM),
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM),
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR),
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National Cancer Institute (NCI)
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI),
National Institute on Aging (NIA),
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
(NIAMS)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB),
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD),
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
(NIDCD),
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR),
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK),
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS),
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS),
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS),
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR),
(http://ninr.nih.gov/)
National Library of Medicine (NLM),
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM),
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR),
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National Cancer Institute (NCI)
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI),
National Institute on Aging (NIA),
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
(NIAMS)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB),
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD),
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
(NIDCD),
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR),
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK),
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS),
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS),
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS),
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR),
(http://ninr.nih.gov/)
National Library of Medicine (NLM),
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM),
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR),
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The K99/R00 program must be tailored to meet
the individual needs of the candidate. Candidates
may request up to 5 years of support consisting of
two phases. The initial phase will provide 1-2
years of mentored support for highly promising,
postdoctoral research scientists. This phase will be
followed by up to 3 years of independent support
contingent on securing an independent tenuretrack or equivalent research position. R00 award
recipients are expected to apply for additional NIH
or other independent research grant support
during the independent phase of the award.
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Pay up to 100% salary for 2 years
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Maximum $90,000 per year
INC Maximum $20,000 “research costs”
 Travel, computer, courses, NOT mentorship
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No extra funds
Pay up to 75% salary for 3 years
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$249,000 total per year
 Salary, travel, research
 May be supplemented
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Someone who is ready to do an R01
Good research project, supporting data
 Publications
 Letters of support
 Evidence of ‘service’
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Track record of nearly independent science
But is not yet independent
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Have currently or previously held an
independent research faculty or tenure-track
faculty position, or its equivalent, in academia,
industry or elsewhere;
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Have currently or previously held an
independent research faculty or tenure-track
faculty position, or its equivalent, in academia,
industry or elsewhere;
Have more than 5 years of related postdoctoral
research training at the time of initial
application or resubmission(s); or
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Have currently or previously held an independent
research faculty or tenure-track faculty position, or
its equivalent, in academia, industry or elsewhere;
Have more than 5 years of related postdoctoral
research training at the time of initial application
or resubmission(s); or
Have been an independent principal investigator
on NIH research grants (e.g. R01, R03, R21), NIH
career development awards (e.g., K01, K07, K08,
K23, K25), or other peer reviewed NIH or non-NIH
research grants over $100,000 direct costs per year,
or project leaders on sub-projects of program
project (P01) or center (P50) grants.
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Evidence for independence … includes:
The candidate has a full-time tenure track assistant
professor position (or equivalent).
The candidate received a startup package for
support of his/her independent research.
The candidate has research space dedicated to
his/her own research.
The candidate may attend faculty meetings, be the
responsible supervisor for graduate students,
and/or hire postdoctoral fellows.
The candidate is eligible to apply for independent
research funding as the principal investigator of an
NIH R01 or other equivalent research grant.
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Conversely, evidence for independence …
includes:
The candidate has a full-time tenure track assistant
professor position (or equivalent).
The candidate received a startup package for
support of his/her independent research.
The candidate has research space dedicated to
his/her own research.
The candidate may attend faculty meetings, be the
responsible supervisor for graduate students,
and/or hire postdoctoral fellows.
The candidate is eligible to apply for independent
research funding as the principal investigator of an
NIH R01 or other equivalent research grant.
150- 200 awards
 Table of awards made
http://grants1.nih.gov/grants
new_investigators/K99_R00_awards.htm
 2007 20% success rate
 At the National Institute of General Medical
Sciences (NIGMS), which awarded 16 Pathway
grants in 2007 and the same number in 2008-more than any other NIH institute except the
National Cancer Institute (NCI)--the success
rate was a smaller 13.2%.
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http://report.nih.gov/FileLink.aspx?rid=601
NIGMS: 13.33%
NHGRI: 50%
NIA: 21.05%
Highest: NLM (3 app)
2nd NIAAA & NHGRI & NINR & NCRR
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General Q&A
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Abstracts
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/K99_ab
stracts_fy2006.htm
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http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/Q
sandAs.htm
Program officer
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Results will vary 
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People
Your mentor – PI
Bug them, sit in their office, send things again and
again
 PAID to help students (and most want to)
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K99 recipients:
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Farah Lubin
Lacey McNally
Degui
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The OPE
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Mellissa O’McBrayer
mcbrayer@uab.edu
Grant writing course
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Special interest seminar groups
Diabetes Journal Club; HDL group; ‘lipids breakfast’
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NASCENT panel
Jean Lambert
jeanl@uab.edu
Presentation
 Written feedback
 Mentor
 Contact
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Don’t forget your fellow postdocs , grad
students and new faculty…
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No submission
Submission
Scored!
10-30 “high impact” 40-60 “medium impact”
“70-90 low impact”
30 payline
Redone for AHA and minority grant
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Very focused and tailored
Do not tell them everything
Make it a story:
“Through the differences in genetic and
phenotypic correlations between the measures
used in my MSc project, I was interested in how
the environment can modify the genetic substrate
of an individual. This is vitally important for
genetic association studies, because the current
paradigm essentially excludes environmental
contexts in the analysis.”
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Papers, courses, conferences, skill, faculty
position
Activity 1: Laboratory Skill: Quality control
and analysis of genome wide genetic and
epigenomic data.
Activity 2: Formal training in genetic and
epigenetic analysis.
Activity 3: Integration into the wider
epidemiological community
Activity 4. Professional skills development
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My independence at the R00 phase will be assessed
through the following benchmarks:
Mentored writing of 5-7 first author papers in
lipidemia and IR;
Data submission to, and attendance at, 4 international
conferences;
Completion of three Graduate level and one
international workshop in epidemiology and genetic /
epigenetic analysis and study design; and 6 seminars
on career development;
Conducting the quality control and analysis of
genome-wide genetic data;
Finding and securing a suitable tenure-track faculty
position.
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K99 Aim 1: Use latent class analysis to develop a
biomarker of IR based on the clustering of VLDL, LDL
and HDL diameters.
K99 Aim 2: Use genome-wide association analysis
(GWAS) separately in GOLDN and MESA to identify the
genetic variants contributing to the clustering of VLDL,
LDL and HDL sizes.
R00 Aim 3: Conduct genome-wide cytosine-phosphateguanine (CpG) methylation analysis in GOLDN to
identify regions of methylation differences associated
with IR
R00 Aim 4: Conduct bisulphate sequencing to localize
methylation changes associated with the clustering of
VLDL, LDL and HDL sizes in GOLDN to specific gene
regions in order to identify the functional impact of
methylation in IR.
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Analysis
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(methods section)
Preliminary data
Expertise / support
Exigency plan
Future directions
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That I had a shot
Some people cannot be relied upon
The amount of time required
The demands of the ‘admin’
How useful it would be
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That is was a 5-year plan,
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How difficult the NIH biosketch can be
That future directions are broad, not narrow
Power calculations are difficult!
There is a fine line between giving them
important information, and lying.
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Need to know R01s
There is no need to lie
Not to be afraid of diagrams
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The sum of the parts is greater than the whole
The change in myself and my science since
doing a K99
It’s totally possible
Be tenacious
You’ll lose weight (and possibly friends) – eat
cake and enjoy it 
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David Allison, Emily Levitan, Matthew Loop
Ryan Irvin, Jose Ordovas, Christine Duarte
Richard Kennedy, Nick Pajewski, Yann
Klemintidis + a host of others.
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Peavine Falls, Oak Mountain