Outcomes of a Career Development Award (Pre-K) Mock Review Program for Postdoctoral Fellows and Early-Career Faculty.

PURPOSE: Securing research funding for early-career investigators remains challenging. The authors present the results of a presubmission career development award (Pre-K) review program for postdoctoral fellows and early-career faculty. METHOD: The Pre-K program is designed to help mentored postdoctoral fellows and early-career faculty write successful career development awards by assigning expert reviewers to score each application and provide written and oral critiques before a mock study section. Applicants and mentors attend the review and can ask questions directly to reviewers about their application. Quarterly, annual, and alumni surveys are sent to applicants who participated in the Pre-K program to assess satisfaction, confirm grant submission and status (i.e., funded and unfunded), and understand the long-term career impact of the program. RESULTS: A total of 212 applicants (136 [64%] female; 19 [9%] from underrepresented in medicine groups) participated in the program between 2014 and 2021. Outcome data from 194 grants were available. Among these grants, 71 were awarded (37% success rate). Among underrepresented in medicine applicants, 7 of 18 submitted grants were funded (39% success rate). Of 183 Pre-K participants sent the alumni survey, 123 (67%) responded. Academic degrees included 64 PhDs (52%), 46 MDs (37%), and 14 MDs/PhDs (11%). One hundred nine respondents (90%) were employed in an academic institution, and 106 (86%) devoted more than 50% of their time to research. One hundred twelve (91%) reported receipt of an award (87 [78%] federal and 59 [53%] intramural funding), the most common being National Institutes of Health K/Career Development Awards. Pre-K was rated as very useful to their careers by 102 respondents (83%). CONCLUSIONS: A Pre-K mock review program can assist early-career investigators in securing funding and launching their research career. Continued investment in the next generation of clinical and translational researchers should remain an institutional priority.

Praxis skills in young children with Down syndrome, other developmental disabilities, and typically developing children.

This study explored whether young children with Down syndrome show praxis deficits that impact activities of daily living, and whether these deficits are specific to Down syndrome. We compared the performance of young children with Down syndrome, a mental age-matched group of children with developmental disabilities of mixed or unknown etiologies, and a group of typically developing infants and toddlers on praxis tasks and overall adaptive behavior (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales). Children with Down syndrome showed poorer overall motor functioning than the developmental disabilities comparison group as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, F(2, 47) = 5.24, p < .01 (using one-way analysis of variance [ANOVA]). A one-way multivariate analysis of variance also showed that children with Down syndrome performed significantly worse overall than the developmental disabilities comparison group on a battery of praxis tasks, F(7, 18) = 2.95, p < .05, and a series of object retrieval tasks, F(7, 18) = 2.95, p < .05, suggesting a deficit in praxis that is specific to Down syndrome. Children with Down syndrome elicited significantly more help than both comparison groups during object retrieval trials, F(2, 48) = 4.94, p < .01 (using one-way ANOVA). When chronological age was partialled out, a strong relationship was observed between praxis and adaptive functioning in Down syndrome, r(8) = .69, p < .05. These findings suggest that young children with Down syndrome may need targeted interventions that focus on both praxis skills and motivational orientation.