K12 Scholars Program

• Located at  Scripps Research Translational Institute (SRTI) in La Jolla, CA.

• Supported by Scripps’ National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award.

• Mentorship in cross-disciplinary translational research, data analysis, scientific communication and grant writing.

• Studies within SRTI’s precision medicine research domains of genomics, digital health, data science and community engagement, with an option to focus or collaborate in any Scripps Research investigational area.

• Courses in clinical and translational science methodologies plus options from  Scripps Research Skaggs Graduate School‘s unique customizable curriculum.

The program is aimed at early-career postdoctoral (MD, PhD, DDS, DVM, PharmD, etc.) candidates who have discovered a passion for research and have a desire to translate scientific discoveries or technological innovations into meaningful human health improvements and clinical practice interventions. Scholars are enrolled early in their careers or during clinical residency/fellowship training to advance clinical and translational research skills toward futures in transformative health research.

Note: Due to the requirements of the sponsoring NIH grant, a candidate must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States to receive a research stipend during participation in our Clinical Scholars Program.

The program will provide the scholar with the knowledge and skills that will enable him/her to:

• Carefully refine research hypotheses

• Master numerous translational science methods

• Effectively analyze scientific data

• Persuasively articulate research findings in both written and verbal form

• Manage a research team

• Compete effectively for grant funding

• Understand a variety of basic and translational science disciplines as they apply to clinical discovery

• Effectively collaborate with basic and clinical investigators

• Engage a community of research colleagues, learners and study participants

All will be accomplished via interaction and teamwork among the 400 graduate students and 300 postdoctoral researchers at the Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences and the faculty of Scripps Research, the Scripps Research Translational Institute and Scripps Health.

The majority of time is spent refining research skills and conducting translational research, either laboratory or clinical. Scholars have an opportunity to participate in research program rotations as an introduction to available investigational disciplines, after which the scholar will identify a field of investigation and a mentor with whom to develop an original clinical or translational research project expected to lead to national conference presentation and manuscript publication.

Unique features of the program include specialty training tracks in genomics, digital medicine, data science and community engagement, allowing scholars to make contributions in these important fields. Moreover, research tracks in virtually any area of translational medicine are available to our scholars through collaborations with other institutions and biotechnology companies. Most scholars study in more than one discipline—for example, completing a translational laboratory thesis project while participating in the conception and completion of clinical trials ongoing at our institute.

Over the course of 2-3 years, the scholar will conduct intensive study in a research team at Scripps Research, SRTI or one of our research affiliates. During this time frame, the scholar will design and conduct a project, receive guidance and counsel from a mentor team, write at least one but likely several manuscripts related to his/her area of study and prepare grant applications based on preliminary data.

Scripps Health Graduate Medical Education (GME) offers an extended training program that follows the research pathway requirements of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), designed for new physicians envisioning an investigational career in either clinical or translational scientific research.

Internal medicine residents or specialty fellows in good standing may apply to add 2-3 years of active translational research as K12 Scholars, during which approximately 20% annual time is spent in GME clinical assignments. Trainees in this research track may be afforded the opportunity to “fast track” from internal medicine residency into subspecialty fellowship programs, with pathway options illustrated below.

Trainees enrolled in this program become members of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, a translational medicine research team within Scripps Research that has received the prestigious Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These research pathway residents and fellows develop, conduct and present translational research projects designed to solve unmet healthcare needs within clinical areas of interest.

IM Subspecialty Research Track

Following 24 months of IM clinical training, research training and specialty clinical training may happen in any order to complete 6-7 year pathways, depending on specialty.

Residents in the IM Residency Research Track may apply at the start of their second year to “fast track” into subspecialty training fellowship programs or they may begin mentored research training at month 25 and apply to fellowship in the 4th year of the IM Residency Research Track. The full track may be completed at Scripps Research or combined with another ACGME-certified fellowship program.

Joining the K12 Program as a Fellow: Fellows training in subspecialty fellowships at Scripps Research who envision a career in research are invited to apply to the K12 Scholars Program to add 2-3 years of mentored research to their training pathways. The program allows fellows to develop clinical and translational research skills, with protected research time to conduct studies and publish results toward writing individual grants and transitioning to independent research careers.

To learn more, contact the Scripps Clinic IM Residency Program Representative.

K12 Scholar graduates and subsequent professional positions:

• Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir, PharmD, MPH, AAHIVP, Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

• Toluwalasé ”Lasé” A. Ajayi, MD, Program Director, UC San Diego/Scripps Health Palliative Medicine Fellowship; Digital Health Equity Lead, Joan & Irwin Jacobs Center for Innovation; and Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine and Pediatrics, UC San Diego Health

• Thomas Buchholz, MD, Corporate Senior Vice President and Medical Director, Scripps Cancer Center

• Linda C. Gallo, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology and Co-Director, South Bay Latino Research Center, San Diego State University

• Ralph Horwitz, MD, MACP, Professor of Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University

• Emily Spencer, PhD, Associate Director, Scripps Research Translational Institute, Senior Lab Director, Scripps Research

• Eric Topol, MD, Chair, Department of Translational Medicine; Founder & Director, Scripps Research Translational Institute; Executive Vice President, Scripps Research

• Jill Waalen, MD, MS, MPH, FACPM, Director, General Preventive Medicine Residency Program, UC San Diego; Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science, San Diego State University School of Public Health

Application deadline: March 4, 2026

Interviews and offers: March 2026

We will begin accepting applications on November 1, 2025, for 2-3 year Scripps Research Translational Institute K12 Scholar positions open for appointment beginning July 1, 2026. Applications must be complete and submitted by February 28, 2026. Candidates will be contacted in March, with final notifications by April 1, 2026.

Complete the application form.

The K Clinical and Translational Scholars Program at Scripps Research Translational Institute provides energetic and scientifically minded young clinical and biomedical professionals with the tools they need to bridge the chasm between research and patients. This career development program provides scholars with the skills and opportunities to make fundamental contributions to medical science that may impact generations to come. A competitive stipend is provided, along with benefits and research funds, with the intent that clinician scholars may remain 20-25% active in clinical practice during K12 Scholar Program participation.

Each K12 Scholar develops a unique translational research project with a mentor team that includes at least 1 research mentor and 1 clinical mentor. This central project forms the basis of at least 1 first author manuscript and typically spins off several related studies or trials.

Examples of K12 Scholar studies and publications:

• Immunotherapy: Dr. Tridu Huynh – HIV therapeutics
• Cancer immunology and immunotherapy: Dr. Jason Cham – Antibody response to vaccination
• Genomics: Dr. Evan Muse – Genomic risk markers for atrial fibrillation
• Digital medicine: Dr. Paddy Barrett – Validation of cardiac monitoring
• Inpatient randomized controlled trial: Dr. Stuti Jaiswal – Digital monitoring for sleep and delirium
• Cardiovascular risk: Dr. Amitabh Pandey – Evidence on supplement for cardiac outcomes
• Community engagement: Dr. Toluwalase Ajayi – Team care for sickle cell anemia
• Digital tracking: Dr. Brian Modena – New cardiac vital signs
• Human genomics: Dr. Liliana Uribe-Bruce – Admixture and phenotype variation
• Tumor genomics: Dr. Shannon Forin-Ensign – Mutation burden and prognosis
• Drug discovery: Dr. Quan Nhu – Repurposing thiazolidinediones for inflammation 

Each K12 Scholar is required to complete our Scientific Ethics workshop and 3 graduate level translational science courses, with options for additional coursework from the full Scripps Research Graduate School curriculum.

Current SRTI Translational Science Course Offerings  

• Fall: Clinical Investigation and Grant Writing

• Fall: Introduction to Data Science

• Fall: The Science of Writing Science

• Winter: Introduction to Biostatistics

• Winter: Ethics in Science Workshop

• Winter: Applied Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

• Spring: Advanced Statistical Methods

• Spring: Advanced Data Science

• Spring: Molecular Medicine

• Spring: Human Genetics & Genomics

K12 Scholars are asked to add activities that will enrich their career development as role models and future leaders in biomedical research.

Community engagement: Scholar Toluwalase Ajayi speaking to the California Medical Association

Science communication for the public: Scholar Gauree Konijeti on the news

Science communication for peers: Scholar Quan Nhu at a conference

Social media: Scholar Paddy Barrett’s podcast, The Doctor Paradox

Mentoring: Scholar Brian Abe’s summer intern in the lab

Mentoring: Scholar Stuti Jaiswal’s student intern team conducting clinical research

Biotech collaboration: Scholars Ravi Komatireddy and Paddy Barrett with Vital Space zero gravity testing

Teaching: Scholar Evan Muse guest lecturing at Scripps Research

Representing: Scholar Shannon Fortin-Ensign giving grand rounds

Kristen is a K12 Scholar at the Scripps Research Translational Institute and an Associate Physician in Child Neurology and Medical Genetics at UC San Diego Rady Children’s Hospital. She earned her medical degree with honors in research from Weill Cornell Medicine. Her research uses artificial intelligence tools to study pediatric epilepsies. She developed automated tools to create pediatric epilepsy cohorts from large, multi-institutional electronic health record data to study sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and rare genetic epilepsies. In addition, she has evaluated treatments for rare epilepsies. She compared the effectiveness of second line treatments for infantile epileptic spasms syndrome using multi-institutional data from 21 pediatric epilepsy clinics and this research was awarded the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics’ Clinical Science Award. A second project involved collaborating with rare disease organizations to understand experiences using off-label medications for neurogenetic disorders, including the use of phenylbutyrate for STXBP1 and SLC6A1 epilepsies, and pyridostigmine for PURA syndrome.

Kallie Brown is a K12 Scholar at the Scripps Research Translational Institute and research scientist at the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute under the guidance of Dr. Athena Philis-Tsimikas.

Prior to joining Scripps Research, Kallie earned her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of California, Irvine. Her graduate research combined developmental, social and health psychology, with a focus on how social experiences influence health. During her doctoral work, Kallie pursued two main areas of research: one examining positive identity development among members of the Black/African diaspora, and another investigating how negative social experiences relate to stress, cardiovascular health and risk for type 2 diabetes.

As a K12 Scholar, Kallie is applying her background in psychological science to inform the design and implementation of diabetes self-management interventions. Her work will evaluate the effectiveness of mobile health tools, such as text messaging programs and continuous glucose monitors (CGM) to support glycemic control for patients with type 2 diabetes.

Michael is a K12 Scholar at the Scripps Research Translational Institute and an Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Fellow at Scripps Clinic. He completed his MD and PhD training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he studied T cell memory function through manipulation of cellular metabolic pathways. His K12 Scholar work includes the development of multispecific antibodies targeting immunologic and atopic diseases as well as a clinical trial exploring the use of CAR T-cell therapy in autoimmune disease.

Preeti grew up in Southern California and pursued her bachelor’s degree in American literature at UCLA, followed by a master’s degree in public health at Boston University. After earning her medical degree from St. George’s University, she completed her internal medicine residency at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C. During her subsequent pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she was awarded an institutional NIH T32 grant and earned the division research scholar award. As a member of the UW ICU Data Science Lab, she helped develop a multi-source data commons for patients with substance misuse, with an emphasis on analyzing emergency medical services data to enhance understanding of hospital outcomes. Building on this work, she created machine learning algorithms to predict clinical deterioration events, including the initiation of mechanical ventilation in the hospital. Continuing her focus on predictive modeling, her work at Scripps Research will center on identifying patient-ventilator asynchronies to develop artificial intelligence models to anticipate poor outcomes in mechanically ventilated patients. Outside of practicing medicine, she enjoys performing aerial acrobatics, cooking, traveling and painting.

Shadi Khalil is a K12 Scholar at Scripps Research Translational Institute and Dermatologist and Dermatopathologist at Scripps Clinic. Shadi is a native San Diegan and grew up in Kearney Mesa before moving for his training. He moved to the University of Virginia for his medical training, where completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Pathology, investigating mechanisms of iron sensing by bone marrow stem cells. He then completed dermatology residency at UCSD, dermatopathology fellowship at NYU, and started his physician-scientist career as an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University, working in dermatopathology and dermatology with a research focus on skin nutrition and inflammation. Shadi has clinical and research interests in scarring alopecias, permanent and progressive forms of hair loss which are poorly understood and have no recognized FDA-approved therapies. His research interests involve utilizing skin dermatopathology tissue to understand the molecular mechanisms of disease in skin inflammatory conditions, including alopecia.  

Mark Rolfsen is a K12 Scholar at Scripps Research Translational Institute and an Intensivist at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas. He graduated with Honors from University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. He then returned to his home state where he received a Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana State University School of Medicine – New Orleans as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at University of California, San Diego. There, he developed a passion for critical care with a deep interest in improving long-term outcomes in intensive care unit (ICU) survivors, of whom a third or more will suffer cognitive impairment during the months to years of recovery. This interest led him to a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he began a physician-scientist career at the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship (CIBS) Center. During this time, he completed a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation under an NIH T32 grant and helped lead a multi-center randomized trial of computerized cognitive rehabilitation for survivors of critical illness. His primary focus is on continuing to develop and test interventions for long-term cognitive impairment following critical illness. His SRTI K12 project will work towards improving the use of digital technologies for healthy aging and cognitive recovery after critical illness. Outside of work he enjoys going on walks with his wife, toddler and dog, and finding new running routes in San Diego.