Winning Strategies for the K Award: A Panel Discussion with Successful Applicants

Registration required!

Join Part 2 of our K Award Series! Building on the foundational knowledge from our March 4 seminar, this session focuses on the applicant’s perspective. Our panelists are NIH Career Development (K) Award recipients who will share candid stories about their journey, from conceptualizing their project to receiving the notice of award. Bring your questions for an interactive discussion on the practical challenges and strategies involved in securing this prestigious funding.

This event is ideal for anyone actively writing or planning to apply for a K Award.

This is an IN-PERSON event you don’t want to miss!

Topics of discussion will include:

• Choosing the right K Award mechanism for their career goals.
• Crafting a compelling narrative in the candidate background and personal statement.
• Developing and integrating the training and research plans.
• The role of mentors and institutional support.
• Navigating the submission and (sometimes) resubmission process.
• Advice they wish they had received when starting their application.

Panelists:

Our panel will share their candid experiences and successful strategies for securing this prestigious funding.

Dr. Cellas Hayes is first-generation college graduate and a neuroscientist and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health. He received bachelor’s degrees in biology, classics, and Latin from the University of Mississippi in 2019. He completed his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences with an emphasis in pharmacology and receiving neuroscience research training in 2022. His postdoctoral research at Stanford uses advanced epidemiological and biostatistical research tools with high-dimensional biological data to investigate cerebrovascular and Alzheimer’s disease pathologies on age-related outcomes such as dementia and cognitive decline. He is a Stanford Propel Postdoctoral Scholar, a Burroughs Wellcome Fund PDEP recipient, HABS-HD HESP Scholar, founder and chair of the National Black Postdocs Emergency Support Program, and a Black in Neuro mentor. Dr. Hayes’ long-term goal is to establish an interdisciplinary laboratory that uses advanced epidemiological and biostatistical research methodologies with high-dimensional biological data to elucidate the concomitance of vascular and AD pathologies on aging outcomes. Dr. Hayes is extremely passionate about increasing and maintaining diversity and inclusion in STEM fields through mentorship, service, and opportunity.

Dr. Cameron Bader is a postdoctoral scholar and immunologist in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Stanford University. His graduate studies investigated the role of the innate immune sensor STING in murine models of graft-versus-host disease and bone marrow transplantation. In his postdoctoral training, he has continued to investigate novel strategies to augment hematopoietic cell transplantation as a cure for cancer, to improve solid organ transplantation, and to prevent neurodegenerative disease with animal models and bioinformatic approaches in humans. Cameron has been the recipient of NIH F31 and F99/K00 fellowships and is now funded by a K99/R00 career development award which will support his transition to an independent tenure-track faculty position. Cameron is passionate about mentorship and teaching and is excited to apply his experience towards developing novel tools to help prospective grant writers identify required documents, develop a timeline, and track progress towards their targeted grant mechanism. Outside of science, Cameron enjoys spending time with his wife, dogs (Max and Izzy), and experimenting with new ingredients in the kitchen.

New to the K Award?

This panel is Part 2 of our K Award series. For a comprehensive overview of application requirements and key components, we recommend attending the Navigating the NIH K Award: A Comprehensive Seminar on Application Requirements on March 4.

Accommodations: