Training Core

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PROJECT SUMMARY The over-riding objective of the National Institute of Aging (NIA) Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) Collaboratory is to serve as a national resource for the conduct of embedded pragmatic clinical trials (ePCTs) that improve the care of persons with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers (CGs), in partnership with the healthcare systems (HCS) that serve them. Inherent in this objective is the need to train and support a cadre of talented investigators prepared to carry on this work well into the future. As such, the Training Core of the NIA AD/ADRD Collaboratory seeks to support the training of junior investigators to become experts in this field. It will do so by exploiting the expansive expertise across the entire NIH AD/ADRD Collaboratory as well as the foundational work of the National Institutes of Health HCS Collaboratory. In collaboration with the other seven Cores, the Training Core will facilitate peer-to-peer, inter-professional, interdisciplinary, and inter-sector (academia-HCS-government) mentoring and support to raise the skill set of all participants. The Training Core will be co-led by Christopher M. Callahan, MD and Alexia M. Torke, MD, both of whom bring decades of experience in developing junior investigators as independent researchers. The Training Core’s Specific Aims are: Aim 1. To develop, fund, and coordinate a two-year junior career development award (CDA) program for MD and PhD early career trainees who seek to build their career conducting ePCTs in PWD by leveraging the rich resources of the AD/ADRD Collaboratory. Three CDAs will be funded in each of Years 3 and 4, for a total of six CDAs; Aim 2. To develop and implement structured training activities that address all aspects of conducting ePCTs in PWD for junior investigators, including both internal trainees (CDA recipients, junior pilot project awardees, post-doctoral students in Working Core Groups) and trainees external to the AD/ADRD Collaboratory, including: 1. a Training Workshop and Retreat in Boston in Years 3-5, and 2. a series of web-based video training modules. Aim 3. To integrate CDA recipients and other junior investigators within the AD/ADRD Collaboratory into the academic activities of Working Group Cores and Teams (e.g., writing manuscripts, guidance materials) to promote their professional expertise and individual productivity. IMPACT: Building the nation’s capacity to conduct impactful ePCTs in AD/ADRD requires not only supporting pilot projects and NIA-funded ePCTs, but also developing a cadre of talented investigators prepared to carry on this work well into the future. Thus, in preparing a workforce of investigators skilled in conducting ePCTs among PWD, this unique Training Core is essential to the collective effort of an AD/ADRD Collaboratory to transform the delivery, quality, and outcomes of care for Americans from all backgrounds suffering with AD/ADRD and their caregivers.