HEAL K12 Program

Applicants must meet ALL of the following criteria:

• The candidate must aspire to be a clinical pain researcher housed within any educational or health services
  institution in the U.S. that has resources to conduct clinical research.
• Candidates will hold a clinical doctoral degree (e.g., MD, DO, DDS, PharmD, DPT or PhD) and be faculty within the first five years of appointment or postdoctoral fellows with a pending faculty appointment.
• Scholars must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the U.S. or have been lawfully admitted for permanent
  residence at the time of appointment.
• The department or division Chair of the candidates’ home institution must commit to providing the candidate
  with a minimum of 75% protected time for this training.

HEAL K12 scholars will develop their own tailored training program that includes:

• Remote didactic training in pain science.
• Completion of a clinical research project that could be used to provide pilot data to support future grant
  applications.
• Didactic course work in regulatory sciences, research ethics, biostatistics, patient/community engagement,
  and/or specialty electives relating to topics of interest.
• Attendance at career development seminars, pain conferences, and the NIH PURPOSE Conference on Pain
  Education (required).
• Presentation of research through local, national, and international events, UM International Conference on
  Nociplastic Pain (ICON) (required).
• Cross-disciplinary mentoring designed to assist with career development and research.

The HEAL K12 award follows a 2-tier application process.

Tier-1: 2-Page Letter of Intent:

• The candidate submits a Letter of Intent (LOI) that includes:
  • A brief description of the proposed research project or the nature of the planned research. (250
    words).
  • A brief description of the nature of training that is needed (e.g., gaps in prior training) to be proposed
    in the full application. (250 words).
  • One primary home institution mentor name, email, and updated certified NIH Biosketch Common
    Form (required).
  • Eligibility Statement (1 page). The Eligibility Statement describes an applicant’s need for the HEAL
    National K12 award and the unique perspectives their candidacy brings to the clinical pain research
    workforce. The candidate should comment on one or more of the following:
    • Why the candidate needs or would benefit from the HEAL National K12 award prior to
      submitting a traditional K-award or independent research (R) award.
    • Why the candidate’s home institution cannot adequately support his/her career and/or
      research objectives without the HEAL National K12.
  • Where they heard about the Heal K12 program (conference, website, colleague, etc.).
  • Citizenship status: citizen or legal resident.
  • Current academic rank or appointment.
• An updated certified NIH Biosketch Common Form must accompany the LOI.
• Competitive candidates will be invited to submit a full application following LOI review.
• LOIs should be submitted as one pdf document to UM-HEALK12@umich.edu
• Note: Clinical trials are not allowed.

Tier 2: Full Application:

• Invited applicants will submit a full career development grant proposal with the following:
  • Specific Aims, Candidate Background, Career Development Plan, and Research Strategy.
  • Experience (if any) of working with Persons with Lived Experience (PWLE).
  • Mentor(s) and institutional letters of support.
  • Budget and budget justification.
• Additional instructions and templates will be provided at the time of the invitation.

• LOIs will be reviewed by HEAL K12 Directors and NIH program staff.
• Full Applications will be reviewed by the HEAL K12 study section. Finalists along with their primary home
  mentor(s) will be invited for an interview with the HEAL K12 Directors.

For questions regarding the LOI, submission process, or program requirements please email: UM-HEALK12@umich.edu

*The Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, is an aggressive, trans-NIH effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis. Launched in April 2018, the initiative is focused on improving prevention and treatment strategies for opioid misuse and addiction and enhancing pain management. For more information, visit: https://heal.nih.gov.