Short Term Aging-Related Reseach Program

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7. Project Summary Given the aging of the population and concerns over the physician-scientist workforce, it is imperative that inculcate the next generation of physicians with the desire to understand and improve care for older adults through pursuit of scientific discovery in the basic, clinical, and social sciences. The purpose of this application is to renew support for the successful Short- Term Aging-related Research (STAR) T35 program which has been providing summer training in basic, clinical, and social science research for Pritzker medical students to inspire and prepare them to pursue careers in aging research for the past 10 years. At graduation, our NIH T35 trainees are more likely to be an author on a research publication, be satisfied with research experiences in medical school, state that research enhanced their career goals, and 3 times more likely to report intention to pursue an academic full-time research career. The proposed program will continue to be led by Dr. David Meltzer, a physician-economist who is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and an NIA-funded investigator, including PI of a current NIA-funded T32 MD/PhD program in social sciences and aging. He will be joined by an accomplished team of co-directors and assistant directors including Assistant Dean for Scholarship & Discovery and NIH-funded researcher Dr. Vineet Arora who studies sleep in older persons, current Section Chief of Geriatrics and Palliative Care Dr. Stacie Levine, and Dr. Sangram Sisodia, an NIA- funded investigator in Alzheimer’s disease. Building on the established processes of the successful long- running Pritzker School of Medicine Summer Research Program and the Scholarship & Discovery 4-year research infrastructure, the proposed program will continue to admit nine T35 sponsored students each year with an additional nine supported by the Pritzker School of Medicine. A cadre of nationally prominent NIH- funded principal investigators in basic, clinical, and social science relevant to aging will mentor individual trainees who together have more than $30 million in funding. In addition, trainees will take part in didactic instruction in responsible conduct of research, statistics, clinical geriatrics and an innovative course called Scholars in Translational Aging Research Training (START) Program which will expose them to concepts in biology, clinical geriatrics, and the social sciences that are central to the study of aging. For nearly 10 years, the START course has consistently increased interest in aging research careers among participants (both NIA T35 funded and other). Through rigorous evaluation and long-term tracking, we will be able to determine if participants show a greater propensity to continue pursuing research as a career. Given the aging of the population and concerns over the physician-scientist workforce, it is imperative that inculcate the next generation of physicians with the desire to understand and improve care for older adults through pursuit of scientific discovery.