Mentorship has been a foundational priority for the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program since its inception. The National Institutes of Health requires CTSA applicants to demonstrate how mentors are trained and evaluated, particularly those guiding early-career scholars and trainees.
Over the past year, Dr. Chris Pfund, director of ICTR Mentorship Initiatives, and Dr. Chris Sorkness, ICTR senior associate executive director, served as lead editors for a special issue of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (JCTS). This thematic issue features 15 peer-reviewed papers, including some authored by ICTR team members, that deepen the understanding of effective mentorship and explore how individual mentors and academic institutions apply these research findings.
Dr. Pfund highlights four themes that emerge in this JCTS special issue:
- Workforce development skill-building through mentorship interventions.
- The power of peer/near-peer mentoring.
- Assessment and comparative effectiveness of mentorship experiences.
- Dissemination and implementation.
The special issue covers a wide range of topics, including new mentorship training models and career development programs in biomedical research aimed at improving mentoring relationships across various contexts.
Dr. Sorkness emphasizes that CTSA Program Hubs play a vital role in advancing clinical and translational science (CTS) and that effective mentoring relationships are a critical aspect of preparing CTS scientists across learner stages, and important for all members of a research team.
At ICTR, mentorship has been a central component of its mission from the beginning. Over the past decade, ICTR has emerged as a national leader in mentorship education and scholarship. The Mentorship Initiatives team supports a national CTSA Mentorship Community of Practice and annually hosts the Entering Mentoring Facilitator Training for CTSA partners. This workshop empowers scholars to effectively implement mentorship training at their own institutions. ICTR also served as the home of the National Research Mentoring Network Mentor Training Core (2014-2019) and then as the Coordination Center (2019-2025).
This special issue, entitled “Advancing the science and practice of effective mentorship,” marks a significant milestone in ICTR’s ongoing commitment—and that of CTSA hubs across the country—to promote effective and sustainable mentoring practices in clinical and translational research.
We invite you to explore the full issue on the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science website and join us in celebrating the future of mentorship.