Training program in the biology and translational research on Alzheimer's diseaseand related dementias

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Project Summary This T32 renewal application seeks support for the multidisciplinary education of trainees in Alzheimer’s disease and Related Dementia (ADRD). The goal of this program is to train the next generation of creative and meritorious ADRD researchers at the predoctoral level. We acknowledge that the development of future therapy for dementia will require strong training in multiple disciplines, such as, the molecular biology of dementia, drug discovery and development, clinical studies and the analysis of large data sets. We will answer the imperative need for scientists who can synthesize across disciplines. Our Training Program comprises of four discplines/themes: (1) biological mechanisms (2) drug discovery and development (3) clinical ADRD (4) computational science. Each student gets trained in at least two of the four disciplines, utilizing a multidisciplinary approach for tackling scientific questions in ADRD. Attentive to the latest recommendation of the NIA and Alzheimer’s Association guidelines, there will be special emphasize on the analysis of lifestyle, environmental factors and preventative approaches for ADRD. The mentor/preceptor team has outstanding expertise to establish this innovative, interdisciplinary training program, to integrate otherwise disparate centers of excellence at UIC and Rush, leveraged by industry collaborations. Preceptor expertise is diverse; from molecular mechanisms of dementia, vascular biology, diabetes and inflammation, neuronal and neural imaging to clinical diagnosis of human ADRD patients and large scale data analysis. Expertise is from 12 departments and 6 clinical and translational entities. We will train ADRD researchers with diverse backgrounds and cross- disciplinary skills, including neuroscientists, but also computational biologists, chemists, and engineers interested in translational ADRD research. To facilitate interdisciplinary training, trainees will have two preceptors from different disciplines. We will build individual development plans (IDPs) for each trainee and offer multidisciplinary coursework from ADRD-TP faculty and pharma scientists. Importantly, trainees can perform translational research at any of the affiliated clinical and translational entities. Trainees will be encouraged to collaborate with large community-based NIH-supported studies (ROS/MAP) or NIA’s large-scale collaborative consortia (AMP-AD, M2OVE-AD, ADNI, ACTC), and with our pharma partners, Eli Lilly, Abbott and Baxter. Trainees are encouraged to participate in workshops geared towards -omics and drug discovery and the CIM/MATTER entrepreneurial program that aids commercialization of scientific innovation. We seek to support 6 predoctoral trainees. The success of this program in the last five years is reflected by our alumni who have moved on to successful careers in academia and pharma. The ADRD-TP’s vitality is reflected by the numbers of highly qualified applicants and state-of-the-art scientific endevours and publications. We expect the next five year to surpass this success. In summary, the ADRD-TP will provide a rigorous, inspiring and nurturing environment to ensure training of the highest level of scientists needed to unravel dementia.