NIDDK’s Training and Career Development Programs

April 10, 2026

Director of Cell Biology Programs in Urologic and Kidney Diseases

Project Scientist for the Urology Centers Programs/CAIRIBU

Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases (KUH)

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

2 Democracy Plaza, Room 6135

6707 Democracy Blvd.

Bethesda, MD 20892-5458

E-Mail: mullinsC@mail.nih.gov

Hello CAIRIBU community! It’s my pleasure to again provide a few words on a topic that I believe will be of interest to you. Since this is a trainee newsletter it’s probably time I discuss opportunities through the NIDDK’s Training and Career Development Programs.

The NIDDK has a long history of supporting the training of investigators interested in urology research all the way from high school students through established investigators. Indeed, this commitment to fostering the next generation of urology scientists and clinicians is central to our mission (for more information on the NIDDK see “NIH Grants and Funding: NIDDK Profile”; Note: Relevant links appear at the end of the article). This is, of course, evident in the many activities coordinated through CAIRIBU, but we also address this priority through numerous training and career development awards.

These opportunities may be divided into two main categories based on how a candidate applies and ultimately receives support: Individual and institutional awards. For individual awards, candidates work with their institutions to apply directly to the NIH, while for institutional awards, candidates don’t apply to the NIH but instead the Director/Principal Investigator of a funded award appoints them through a selection process. For this article I will focus on individual awards for which the NIDDK participates and largely those supporting early educational and career stages, all of which are especially relevant for this audience. These are only briefly outlined here, but for detailed descriptions, including eligibility and conditions of support, refer to the “NIH Grants and Funding: Research Training and Career Development” site and to search for specific NIDDK funding opportunities see “Grants.Gov.”

The NIDDK supports predoctoral students and postdoctoral investigators through National Research Service Awards (NRSAs) named in honor of Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein, a major leader at NIH through the second half of the 20^th century. These include the Individual Predoctoral NRSA for MDs/PhDs Fellowship (F30) designed to enhance integrated research and clinical training for promising students matriculated in a combined MD/PhD or other dual-doctoral degree program, the Predoctoral Individual NRSA (F31) that provides predoctoral students with supervised research training in specified health and health-related areas leading toward their research degree (e.g., PhD), and the Postdoctoral Individual NRSA (F32) supporting research training for promising postdoctoral investigators to broaden their scientific background and extend their potential for research in specified health-related areas.

NIH Career Development Awards (the “K” series) support varied mentored, research career development experiences. These awards are intended for early-stage investigators and typically provide three to five years of salary to allow development of important skills and protected time for research and training activities under the guidance of an experienced mentor. The expectation is that through this sustained period of training awardees will launch successful, independent research careers and become competitive for future grant (e.g., NIH R01) funding. The Research Scientist Development Award (K01) supports doctoral degree (or equivalent) or non-board eligible MD investigators performing research in broad biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences while the Clinical Investigator Award (K08) supports individuals with clinical/health-professional doctoral degrees (e.g., MD, PhD in a clinical discipline, or equivalent) performing biomedical, behavioral, or translational research. In contrast to the K08, the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) supports the career development of investigators with clinical/health-professional doctoral degrees who will focus specifically on patient-oriented (i.e., direct contact with patients) research and to foster their transition to independent and productive clinical scientists.

The Career Transition (Pathway to Independence) Award (K99/R00) is a unique, two phase “bridging” award that supports the move from postdoctoral research to independence. The K99 phase provides 1-2 years of mentored support for advanced postdoctoral scientists followed by the R00 phase providing a further 1-3 years of independent research support contingent on securing an independent, tenure-track (or equivalent) research position. Award recipients are expected to successfully compete for independent NIH support during the R00 phase. Importantly the K99/R00 is the only training and career development award that has no U.S. citizenship requirements.

As with many things at the NIH, the Training and Career Development Programs are seeing some recent changes and new trends. An especially important development is a change in the locus of peer-review (e.g., for K Awards) from “in house” review in study sections administered by NIH Institute-specific Review Branches, as was traditionally done at the NIDDK, to review in study sections convened by the NIH’s central Center for Scientific Review (CSR). While Institute-specific Review Branch study sections could be crafted to review mission-relevant applications, the CSR study sections are charged with review of applications from diverse scientific areas and NIH Institutes. This means applicants can’t assume CSR study section members will be familiar with the clinical conditions and significance of their proposals and necessitates they make these points especially clear and understandable for the broad audience of reviewers. Applicants can, of course, in their application recommend specific expertise be included on the review panel, which the CSR will consider. Another important trend is the move toward a more streamlined funding opportunity environment, as recently detailed in the NIH Extramural News Funding Blog. This includes a shift from NIH Institute-specific funding opportunity announcements, which are typically narrower in focus, toward fewer, more NIH-wide “parent announcements” that solicit broad, investigator-initiated applications across NIH Institute and Center mission interests. The NIDDK Training and Career Development Programs will likely begin to reflect this more and more in the coming years.

The NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP), established by Congress through a series of actions from the late 1980s-1993, is another terrific resource for investigators and clinicians as they establish independent careers. The LRP is designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals in biomedical or biobehavioral research careers and to counter the burden of escalating educational costs that force some to abandon research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers. The LRP repays up to $50,000 annually of a researcher’s qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research. For complete eligibility requirements see the NIH’s LRP home page.

Ok, that’s a lot of information! I hope you see a program that’s a good fit and that you will take full advantage of the many opportunities offered through the NIDDK and the broader NIH’s Training and Career Development Programs. Our goal is to support you all as the next generation of urology leaders and ensure our community continues to thrive and is positioned to advance non-cancer urology research and ultimately patient care.

Finally, thanks to my NIDDK colleagues for their input in this article. Please reach out to them EARLY (like six months prior to submission!) for expert guidance on the Training and Career Development Programs and associated opportunities I’ve described: Christine Maric-Bilkan, PhD (F Awards); christine.maric-bilkan@nih.gov), Tracy Rankin, PhD (K01, K08, and K99/R00 awards; rankint@niddk.nih.gov), Stuart Reynolds, MD (K23 awards; stuart.reynolds@nih.gov), and Raquel Greer, MD (LRP; raquel.greer@nih.gov).

Best regards,