Biology of Aging and Age Related Diseases Training Grant

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Project Summary Funded by NIA since 1991, this application seeks the 6th competitive renewal for a highly successful T32 program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). It requests continued support for 4 predoctoral and 4 postdoctoral trainees in aging research. The major mission of this T32 is to provide interdisciplinary, state-of-the-art training to talented pre- and post-doctoral fellows in both biology and clinical/translational research in aging and related diseases. Similar to prior trainees, it is projected that the majority of trainees in the next funding period will pursue successful academic careers, and lead prominent programs in aging research across the country. This application builds upon the remarkable resources of UW in gerontology research, and includes 35 (16 women and 19 men) faculty mentors with acknowledged expertise in aging research. Notably, the mentors are balanced across the three faculty ranks of professor (18), associate professor (9) and assistant professor (8), and each mentor has a celebrated history of conducting cutting edge aging research and training successful scientists in gerontology. For over 25 years, this T32 has received substantial institutional commitment. The present application includes significant financial commitments, including support for a new (i.e., 5th position) predoctoral position each year and funds to cover 5% effort for both the Program Director and Associate Director annually. Additional strengths of this application include: 1) inclusion of 16 (46%) new faculty mentors representing emerging areas in aging research, 2) balanced distribution of mentors between junior, mid-level and senior faculty ranks, 3) history of over 93% of T32 trainees supported over the past 15 years alone have pursued successful academic careers in aging research, 4) confirmation that this training program does not overlap with any other T32 at UW, 5) enhanced efforts to increase recruitment and retention of trainees from underrepresented groups, and 6) inclusion of an outstanding training curriculum in both basic biological and clinical research with the addition of several new teaching programs. Overall, the present T32 will continue to provide outstanding training to talented young scientists in both laboratory-based and clinical/translational research in aging and related diseases, and help them launch successful academic careers in gerontology.