Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08), offered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is a discretionary grant program designed to develop the next generation of clinically trained researchers in health services research. Its central goal is to help qualified individuals build the skills, experience, and research trajectory needed for long-term careers that measurably improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and overall effectiveness of health care in the United States. A defining feature of the program is that it emphasizes mentored career development, meaning the applicant is expected to work under the guidance of an experienced mentor (or mentoring team) while progressively building independence as an investigator.

This award specifically supports individuals who hold a clinical doctoral degree and need structured time and resources to pursue an intensive, supervised research career development plan. In practical terms, the K08 mechanism is meant to buy "protected time" for research and research training so clinician-scientists can develop strong methodological foundations, produce publishable work, and position themselves for future independent research funding. The focus on health services research signals an orientation toward real-world health care delivery and outcomes, including how care is organized, financed, delivered, measured, and improved across settings and populations.

AHRQ also makes clear that the program is not limited to people already established in research. It can support candidates who are newly entering health services research and need formal mentored training to transition into the field. It is also designed to accommodate individuals who experienced a break in their research careers due to life circumstances such as illness or family responsibilities, offering a pathway to re-enter research with structured mentoring and developmental support. In addition, the program explicitly supports efforts to strengthen research workforce diversity by providing enhanced career development opportunities, reflecting an intention to broaden participation and perspectives in the health services research workforce.

The opportunity is open to candidates pursuing patient-oriented research as well, indicating that clinically grounded investigations involving patient care, patient outcomes, and patient-facing interventions can fit within the award's scope when aligned with AHRQ's broader mission around improving health care delivery and outcomes. The funding opportunity is associated with CFDA number 93.226 (Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes), reinforcing that projects are expected to align with themes such as cost, quality, outcomes, and system performance rather than basic biomedical bench research.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding opportunity number is PAR-09-085 and the instrument type is a grant. No cost sharing or matching is required. The original posting date was January 23, 2009, and the announcement was later archived on February 7, 2013, with a listed current closing date of January 7, 2013 (indicating it is no longer active in the form provided). Eligible applicant organizations span a wide range of public and nonprofit entities, including state governments, county and local governments (city or township), public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, and other tribal organizations. Nonprofit organizations are eligible whether they have 501(c)(3) status or not (with the noted exception category language for institutions of higher education), and the eligibility notes also include faith-based and community-based organizations among those that may qualify under the additional eligibility clarification.

For further details, the full announcement was hosted through the NIH grants policy and guidance system at the provided link (grants.nih.gov), and technical access issues were directed to the NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster contact.

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Previous opportunity: Alaska Native Education (ANE) CFDA 84.356A

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