Kate Lapane leads the J. NRSA Training Core, a Training Award (TL1) funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

Professor and Associate Dean Kate Lapane leads the J. NRSA Training Core, a Training Award (TL1) funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Supporting research training experiences for pre-doctoral early post-doctoral trainees interested in pursuing multidisciplinary research careers, the J NRSA Training Core addresses the unmet need of a prepared translational research workforce. Since the first cohort was recruited in 2016, this TL1 program has transformed training in translational research at UMass Chan from a fragmented, siloed training model to a collaborative training environment. The Training Core provides classroom training to develop expertise, rigorous research experiences, and transdisciplinary team science and communication skill development.
To achieve these aims, we have developed 5 structured Research Pathways in Entrepreneurship and Commercialization, Data Science, Community Engagement, Implementation Science, and a Generalist Pathway. We recruit from national and local pools of eligible candidates to assure a diverse trainee population with respect to clinical background, disciplinary perspective, and those underrepresented in the biomedical sciences,. TL1 trainees work with mentoring teams to create an individualized competency-based curriculum providing formal and informal opportunities to develop research skills. Locally, our Council to Advance Trainees and Scholars leads efforts to reduce redundancy and to integrate translational learning opportunities across the training ecosystem at UMass Chan. Regionally and nationally, our trainees learn to use CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Awards) tools and engage with CTSA collaborators (e.g., shared mentoring, research rotations, retreats).