Training

The LEAD Center has opportunities for training at multiple levels. The most common trainees are doctoral students (PhD and DrPH) and post-doctoral trainees. LEAD also accepts some undergraduate and master’s level students, as either research employees or volunteers.

To learn more about our current training opportunities, please contact us.

Current Training Grant Awardees:

K01 Awardees- 2026

NIH K01 awards are grants that support early-career investigators with dedicated funding and protected time to develop their research programs under the guidance of experienced mentors. The award is designed to support intensive career development and training that helps promising scientists to build the skills, expertise, and preliminary data needed to launch independent research careers. These recipients are mentored by current LEAD Center faculty members:

Curtis Tilves – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), University of Colorado Denver, 2026

Food Genomics and Multi-Omics Integration to Objectively Characterize Healthy Dietary Patterns and Their Associations with Cardiometabolic Health- K01HL179246

Emily Melnick – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), University of Denver, 2026

Neighborhood Food Access and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Early Childhood- K01HL181327

Kylie Harrall – National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), University of Florida, 2026

Maternal and Fetal Genetic Contributions to the Development of Maternal Gestational Diabetes- K01DK149804

Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Opportunities and Innovation Fund (OIF) Awardees:

Guided by ECHO’s Scientific Focus Areas, investigators propose projects that introduce new research, tools, and technologies to the ECHO Program. The projects cover a wide range of factors and exposures that affect child health. The OIF also supports early career investigators’ professional development by aiding them in leading a research study. LEAD ECHO OIF Awardees include:

Catherine Cohen, PhD, RDN – University of Colorado Denver, 2026

Added Sugar Exposures in Early Life in Relation to Childhood Obesity Risk

Jason Giles, PhD – University of Colorado Denver, 2025

Implementation of a Phenome-Wide Association Study for Identifying Childhood Asthma Pleiotropy in ECHO

Lauren Hoskovec, PhD – Colorado State University, 2025
Identifying Windows of Susceptibility to Wildfire Smoke Exposure: Growth Trajectories and Mitigation