Advancing aging research through development of minority Gerontologists

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Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Duttaroy, Atanu Project Summary Howard University's Advancing Diversity in Aging Research (HUADAR) initiative began in 2014 with the goal of enhancing diversity of the biomedical and clinical research workforce on aging. The institutional environment at Howard University perfectly justifies the rationales for developing a HUADAR program at Howard University since it remains committed for more than a century in training underrepresented minority students. Over the last five years we have successfully fulfilled this goal by recruiting 44 high achieving students, 93% of them African American. We retained 89% (39/44) of our initial recruits, with 24 completing their Bachelors degree through May 2019, with another 15 remaining in the pipeline. So far, nine out of 24 have enrolled in advanced degree programs in MSTEM (Ph.D., MD, DDS) and MSW, thus fulfilling the goals of NIA as outlined in PAR- 17-290. The remaining 15 graduates are currently pursuing MSTEM interests while preparing to enter into an advanced degree program. Graduates remain continually in contact with HUADAR and we are confident that they will pursue various aging related research careers upon completion of their advance degrees. The proposed training is a structured, mentored, hands-on research and educational experience over three years. Apart from enrolling in courses on aging, educational experiences will include two new components: (1) through online forums HUADAR students will engage in dialogue about latest developments in aging, and (2) discussion session on self-care management. Aging related research experiences include (1) opportunities to engage in research during the academic year with HUADAR mentors, (2) summer research apprenticeship opportunities in leading research institutes on aging, including the National Institutes on Aging (intramural), the Barshop Institute for Longevity Research, the University of Southern California, and Tulane University Centre for Aging, (3) opportunities to publish and present at national meetings, and (4) one-on-one mentoring to build a successful career path. All students and personnel will be required to obtain the Responsible Conduct of Research certification. To assess our program's efficacy we invited a third-party evaluation firm, as our External Evaluator. The evaluation plan for HUADAR will consist of course evaluations, faculty efficacy surveys, summer research experience surveys, retention and graduation rates, and acceptance rates of HUADAR graduates into graduate and professional schools, and postgraduate involvement in aging research and geriatric specialties. In this competitive renewal, we propose to continue our program to fulfill the goal of the NIA ADAR initiative to diversify the research workforce focused on aging. PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 06/09) Page Continuation Format Page