A report argues that NIH has effectively removed a major training mechanism for clinical trialists by letting “Clinical Trial Required” funding opportunities for K awards wind down under Program Update 3. The analysis cites 573 active K23 awards—nearly 46% of active K23s—funded via clinical-trial-required announcements, with funding opportunities expiring by July 13, 2027. The central claim is that while NIH says the change is intended to keep K awards focused on career development, running randomized clinical trials is often part of that path. The report describes the operational outcome as forcing early-career investigators to seek separate institutional, philanthropic, or grant funding to lead trials during the years when they develop trial execution skills. For the industry, the workforce pipeline matters because trial design and operational execution capacity affects how quickly sponsors and investigators can conduct rigorous studies—especially in time-sensitive oncology and rare disease programs.