Postdoctoral Training, Neurobiology of Aging and Alzheimer's Disease

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Project Summary/Abstract The postdoctoral training grant entitled “The Neurobiology of Aging and Alzheimer's Disease” is submitted through the University of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium. The training faculty chosen from the Consortium consist of highly interactive investigators whose scientific interests include aging, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) and spans fly, rodent, and nonhuman primate models of aging, as well as human studies in normative and pathological conditions of aging. Six institutions within the Consortium contribute Primary Mentors (Preceptors) and Affiliate Faculty to this Training Program, including: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Barrow Neurological Institute, Banner Sun Health Research Institute, The Translational Genomics Research Institute, and Banner Alzheimer's Institute. Faculty have complementary strengths in brain imaging, computer science, genomics, molecular biology, basic systems, behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, experimental therapeutics, computational and statistical analyses of complex datasets and clinical neuropathological approaches. The research is aimed at promoting the scientific understanding of the aging brain, early detection of AD and ADRD and developing effective treatment and prevention therapies. Fellows benefit from a 4 person Professional Development Committee (PDC) whose purpose is to provide guidance on the creation of a collaborative experimental training plan that fosters opportunities to work, learn and produce across institutions. The primary research Mentor, in whose laboratory the Fellow is based, is chosen from the Preceptor list, as is the secondary research Mentor, but they can be from any institution amongst the consortium. The secondary Mentor plays an active role in the research undertaken by the Fellow, which goes beyond making facilities available. A tertiary Mentor is selected on the basis of experimental or pedagogical expertise, and a fourth member of the PDC is chosen from amongst the 6-person leadership team to provide an additional level of oversight. Exposure to the unique Arizona tradition of cooperation and collaboration that knows no institutional boundaries has significantly enriched the skill sets and professional development of our Fellows during the training period. In addition to multi-laboratory research exposure, another unique programmatic aspect takes the form of three workshops per year, varying from 1-3 days, in which all Fellows participate. These include statewide events that Training Faculty attend (Annual Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium Retreat), or that faculty, graduate students and postdocs attend (Alzheimer's Consortium Annual Scientific Conference), as well as broader participation in national and international professional events (e.g., Society for Neuroscience meeting). Our goal to give the Fellow the freedom to draw broadly from facilities and expertise across the Consortium has exposed our Trainees to the power of collaborative, interdisciplinary interactions that can facilitate development of strong experimental designs to test important questions, providing the foundation for productive future work.