Population Neuroscience of Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (PNA)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This is a proposal for the competing continuation of the T32 Training Program in Population Neuroscience of Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease (PNA), at the University of Pittsburgh, for 3 pre-doctoral and 2 post-doctoral fellows, each for up to 3 years. This proposal builds on a successful first cycle, with a recruitment of ten (10) trainees (50% from an underrepresented group as defined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)) and 100% retention rate. Among the ten trainees, six (6) have been in the program for more than one year, with high scholarly achievement (>30 published manuscripts, 5 NIH grants submitted, 2 NIH grants funded), 100% attendance, 100% multidisciplinary projects, and 100% progression into research careers. The goal of the PNA program is to train a diverse cohort of pre- and post-doctoral scholars to pursue successful independent research in the etiology and pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s Disease and other age- related dementia (ADRD). The growing breadth and complexity of research in ADRD requires new multi- disciplinary curricula that move beyond a “linear sum” of single-discipline coursework. The PNA curriculum responds to this changing landscape with a multidisciplinary curriculum that integrates disciplines traditionally taught in separate departments: population sciences, neurosciences, gerontology, and data sciences. The PNA curriculum has four components: (1) Individual development plan, crafted and monitored by a multi- disciplinary mentoring team, (2) PNA-focused core courses that teach foundational knowledge in PNA, (3) Research practicum with clinical rotations for hands-on training in rigorous research; (4) professional development activities to lead and work with multi-disciplinary research teams. Trainees acquire tangible skills to pursue research careers in the academic, government, and private sectors, including: scientific reasoning, scientific writing and communication, study design, data management, statistics, and public speaking. The PNA Program is administered by the Department of Epidemiology, with co-Directors Dr. Ganguli in Psychiatry and Dr Rosano in Epidemiology, who share responsibility for all aspects of its function. The PNA training formula benefits from extensive resources at Pitt. The 32 PNA program faculty are affiliated with the Schools of Public Health (Epidemiology, Biostatistics), Arts and Science (Neuroscience, Psychology), Medicine (Neurology, Biomedical Informatics), as well as NIA-funded Centers of excellence and Institutes: the Alzheimer Disease Research Center, the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, the Brain Institute, the Center for Aging, Population and Health, the Aging Institute, the Claude Pepper, the Office of Academic Career and Development and the Teaching Institute. Trainees are recruited using proactive and personalized strategies, in collaboration with Institutional resources to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. We implement a rigorous evaluation process annually, with input from trainees, alumni, faculty and the External Advisory Committee.