1. SSG Grant writing club, March 2011

2.  What is a K99 and reasons to write a K99 / R00  NIH information  UAB help  My own experience  13 things I wish I had known about writing a K99

3.  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

4.  It’s prestigious  It’s an achievement in its own right  It offers up to 5 years funding  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

5.  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

6.  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. ”

7.  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”.  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

8.  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

9.  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),

13.  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 tenure- track 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.

14.  Pay up to 100% salary for 2 years  Maximum $90,000 per year  INC Maximum $20,000 “research costs”  Travel, computer, courses, NOT mentorship  No extra funds  Pay up to 75% salary for 3 years  $249,000 total per year  Salary, travel, research  May be supplemented

15.  Someone who is ready to do an R01  Good research project, supporting data  Publications  Letters of support  Evidence of ‘service’  Track record of nearly independent science  But is not yet independent

16.  Have currently or previously held an independent research faculty or tenure-track faculty position, or its equivalent, in academia, industry or elsewhere;

17.  Have more than 5 years of related postdoctoral research training at the time of initial application or resubmission(s); or

18.  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.

19.  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.

20.  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.

21.  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%.

22.  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

23.  General Q&A  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/Q sandAs.htm http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/Q sandAs.htm  Abstracts  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/K99_ab stracts_fy2006.htm http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/K99_ab stracts_fy2006.htm  Program officer  Results will vary

24.  People  Your mentor – PI  Bug them, sit in their office, send things again and again  PAID to help students (and most want to)  K99 recipients:  Farah Lubin  Lacey McNally  Degui

25.  The OPE  Mellissa O’McBrayer  mcbrayer@uab.edu mcbrayer@uab.edu  Grant writing course

26.  Special interest seminar groups  Diabetes Journal Club; HDL group; ‘lipids breakfast’  NASCENT panel  Jean Lambert  jeanl@uab.edu jeanl@uab.edu  Presentation  Written feedback  Mentor  Contact

27.  Don’t forget your fellow postdocs, grad students and new faculty…

28.  No submission  Submission  Scored!  10-30 “high impact” 40-60 “medium impact” “70-90 low impact”  30 payline  Redone for AHA and minority grant

29.  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.”

30.  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

31.  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.

32.  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-phosphate- guanine ( 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.

33.  Analysis  (methods section)  Preliminary data  Expertise / support  Exigency plan  Future directions

35.  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

36.  That is was a 5-year plan,  Need to know R01s  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.  There is no need to lie  Not to be afraid of diagrams

37.  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

38.  David Allison, Emily Levitan, Matthew Loop  Ryan Irvin, Jose Ordovas, Christine Duarte  Richard Kennedy, Nick Pajewski, Yann Klemintidis + a host of others.

39.  Peavine Falls, Oak Mountain