Career Advancement and Development in Rehabilitation Research (CADRRE)

We propose the K12 Career Advancement and Development in Rehabilitation Research (CADRRE) program. The CADRRE program will recruit and train junior faculty who are occupational or physical therapists. The program will support eight K12 Scholars per year who will be recruited from across the nation, and our program will provide them with the skills and research experience necessary to become independent investigators and leaders in rehabilitation. The goal of the CADRRE program is to train leaders who will enable a sustainable and cutting-edge rehabilitation science infrastructure in the United States. The University of Florida (UF) and the University of Southern California (USC) form a partnership that provides a research infrastructure and a critical mass of senior rehabilitation investigators. The strength of this partnership is illustrated by the highly successful K12 program (K12HD055929), that we co-directed from 2007-2024. During that time, we successfully mentored 43 scholars. Building upon that foundation, we propose a new career development program that expands the scope of the mentoring to train scholars at outside institutions in addition to scholars at UF and USC. We have identified 16 highly regarded partner institutions from across the nation that have enthusiastically agreed to participate. We will utilize a two- phase training model which has proven highly successful over a 15-year period of prior K12 support. At the onset of Phase 1, each Scholar will prepare an individualized career development plan under the guidance of an experienced K12 Lead Mentor (i.e., individuals at UF or USC that have a demonstrated record of success in mentoring junior faculty). Scholars at a partner institution (i.e. not at UF or USC) will also have an experienced local Institutional Mentor. The Phase 1 appointment will last up to 3 years and will include a structured didactic program involving research methodology, specialized courses and seminars, training in AI as well as the responsible conduct of research and mentored grant writing experiences. The Phase 1 Scholars will be integrated into an Interdisciplinary Research Team. These teams consist of successful rehabilitation researchers at UF and/or USC with relevant content expertise. The research team members do not replace the Lead and Institutional Mentors, but they will provide a further mentoring resource to assist the Scholars. In Phase 2, Scholars transition to independent research positions and will no longer receive salary support from the K12. Phase 2 Scholars will remain associated with the CADRRE program and continue to be mentored by the Lead Mentor, members of the Interdisciplinary Research Team, and the Institutional Mentor. The entire group of CADRRE scholars (Phase 1 and 2), mentors and advisory boards will gather yearly for an in-person annual meeting in which the research and overall progress will be evaluated and guidance provided by a network of expert advisors in the field. The latter meeting will also serve to help the Scholars network and build strong relationships with peers and senior mentors. Project Number: 1K12HD121063-01 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: KRISTA VANDENBORNE | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, GAINESVILLE, FL | Award Amount: $919,874 | Activity Code: K12 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZRG1 MSOS-L (82)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1K12HD12106301