K08 and K99 cardiovascular training: comparisons and trends among current awardees.

Training the next generation of independent cardiovascular investigators has been a longstanding interest to the Circulation Research community, as evidenced by an editorial in the first volume of this journal.1 Since then, National Institutes of Health (NIH) training mechanisms have expanded from a single offering of postdoctoral fellowships to the current offerings composed of institutional predoctoral and postdoctoral traineeships, individual predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships, and individual early career development awards. The transition from postdoctoral trainee to independent status has always challenged aspiring young investigators and is especially difficult during fiscally constrained times. As resources dwindle, we wanted to compare the 2 training programs (K99/R00, K08) that most often launch cardiovascular bench science careers and describe the characteristics of individuals trained under each program. The NIH initiated the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award to support this transition to independence for promising candidates. Participation by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in the K99/R00 funding opportunity complements its long-standing participation in the K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award program. We compare the first 4 years of trainees in the cardiovascular K99/R00 portfolio with the concurrent experience with the K08 cardiovascular portfolio. The results highlight differences and similarities in the populations and institutions served and the training structures and skills developed. Continued analysis of this comparison will inform future approaches to maintain a vibrant, innovative, productive, and engaged biomedical research community. The K08 and K99/R00 programs have fundamental differences. The K08 provides up to 5 years of mentored research during the assistant professor years, whereas the last 3 years of the K99/R00 (the R00) is an independent award and starts with the first faculty appointment. We analyzed 4 years of data to compare and contrast the K08 with K99/R00 programs to determine the attributes of trainees and comment on the program strengths (Table). We reviewed only grants assigned to the NHLBI Division of Cardiovascular Sciences (DCVS). We looked at records of all new K08 and K99 applications funded between 2007–2010. Grantee information was abstracted from the Principal Investigator’s (PI) biosketch associated with the initial application. A total of 150 biosketches were abstracted.