Program for Aging Research in the Summer (PARIS)

全世界大约有6.17亿65岁或以上的人，而且这一人口继续以前所未有的速度增长。根据美国人口普查局、美国国家老龄研究所委托发布的一份报告，到2050年，目前全球老年人口的8.5%预计将激增至约16亿人，占世界人口的近17%。美国65岁及以上的人口预计将在未来30年翻一番，从4800万人增加到8800万人，尽管众所周知，年龄是各种急性和慢性疾病的风险因素，但衰老背后的机制，以及将这一过程对健康的影响降至最低的最佳方式，目前还不太清楚。因此，研究衰老过程的机制和老年相关疾病的治疗是至关重要的。此外，随着美国人口继续老龄化，将越来越需要训练有素的医生来照顾老年人和与老龄化相关的疾病。最后，被培训为医生和内科科学家的人数仍然存在差距。拟议的计划将通过为代表不足的少数族裔医学生提供参与老龄化研究和在诊所观察老年医生的机会来解决这些问题，以促进对这一医学和研究领域的持续兴趣。夏季老龄化研究计划，或称巴黎计划，将建立在联合首席调查员P01项目的一部分启动的试点计划的成功基础上，在过去三年中，该计划为波多黎各医学院--中央加勒比大学(UCC)的三名学生安排了交通、住房和研究导师，让他们与计划项目的一名成员一起进行老龄化研究。这一计划逐渐得到了学生的积极宣传，以至于在过去的申请期内，申请该计划的人数远远超过了可供选择的名额。因此，在本申请中描述的计划中，我们建议增加计划中的名额，并将参与机会扩大到来自其他波多黎各医学院的医学生，包括庞塞健康科学大学和圣胡安·鲍蒂斯塔医学院。该计划的目标是：(I)组织代表不足的少数族裔医学生参与奥古斯塔大学的老龄研究；(Ii)为巴黎实习生开展研究方法和统计方面的教学培训；(Iii)为巴黎实习生组织临床观察，由医生照顾老年人；以及(Iv)建立一种机制，以保持实习生对老龄研究的兴趣并跟踪实习生的结果。通过这项计划，我们希望鼓励代表不足的少数族裔参与老年科学和老年医学的职业生涯。

Worldwide there are about 617 million people aged 65 or older, and this population continues to increase at an unparalleled rate. According to a report from the United States Census Bureau and commissioned by the National Institute on Aging, the current global population of older individuals of 8.5% is expected to surge to approximately 1.6 billion people, or almost 17% of the world's population, by 2050. The 65-and-over population of the United States is predicted to nearly double over the next three decades, from 48 million to 88 million Although it is well known that age is a risk factor for a variety of acute and chronic disorders, the mechanisms underlying aging, and the best way to minimize the effects of this process on health, are not well understood. Therefore, research into the mechanisms of the aging process and treatment of age-related diseases is critical. In addition, as the American population continues to age, there will be a growing need for physicians trained to care for the elderly and diseases related to aging. Finally, there continues to be a gap in the number of under-represented minorities trained as physicians and physician-scientists. The proposed program will address these issues by providing under-represented minority medical students with the opportunity to participate in aging research and to observe geriatricians in the clinic, with the idea of promoting a sustained interest in this field of medicine and research. The Program for Aging Research in the Summer, or PARIS, will build upon the success of a pilot program initiated as part of the Co-Principal Investigator's P01 Project, which for the past three years has arranged transportation, housing and research mentors for three students from the Puerto Rican medical school, Universidad Central del Caribe (UCC), to pursue aging research with one of the members of the Program Project. This program has gradually received positive publicity from the students, such that this past application period the number of applicants to the program far exceeded the number of slots available. Therefore, in the program described in this application we are proposing to increase the number of slots in the program, as well as to extend the opportunity to participate to medical students from other Puerto Rican medical schools, including Ponce Health Sciences University and San Juan Bautista School of Medicine. The goals of this program are to: (I) organize the participation of under-represented minority medical students in aging research at Augusta University, (II) develop didactic training in research methods and statistics for PARIS trainees, (III) organize a clinical observership for PARIS trainees with physicians caring for older individuals and (IV) establish a mechanism to sustain trainees' interest in aging research and track trainee outcomes. With this program we hope to encourage under-represented minority engagement in careers in geroscience and geriatrics.