Population, Life Course and Aging

摘要

Abstract We propose to continue and improve the NIA training program on “Population, Life Course and Aging” located in the Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). The training program builds on the resources of CDHA to form a long-standing, highly-visible core of research and training in population aging and health at UW. The program draws from a large pool of talented and highly qualified students in the social sciences and public health, and benefits from the rich interdisciplinary environment that integrates research and teaching across the departments of Sociology, Economics, and Population Health Sciences, as well as the La Follette School of Public Affairs, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, the Institute on Aging, the Center for Demography and Ecology, and other centers and programs at UW. The goal of the CDHA training program is to recruit, develop, support and place productive and innovative researchers with expertise in demographic methods and statistical analysis who approach the study of aging from a life course perspective. The current emphases of the program reflect the research strengths of our faculty: biodemography; the lifetime determinants of cognitive health; and the role of social, economic, geographic, environmental, and institutional factors in shaping health and health disparities in later life. The training program also capitalizes on several locally-designed large-scale surveys that combine innovative biological and social measurements and provide opportunities for training at multiple forefronts of research on population, aging, and health across the life course. Our program cultivates trainees’ professional skills, including the conceptualization, execution, presentation, publication, and critique of research via a (1) rigorous methodological and substantive coursework, (2) research apprenticeships that allow trainees to begin collaborative research and publication from the start of the program; (3) specialized interdisciplinary research working groups; (4) professional development seminars ongoing support for developing individual research agendas, presenting at conferences, publishing papers, and developing grant proposals; (5) close mentoring relationships between trainees and preceptors; and (6) access to local and national workshops and professional meetings. We request support for 4 predoctoral trainees (who will generally be supported for 3 years) and 1 postdoctoral trainee (who will generally be supported for 2 years), a level equal to our current number of positions. This support is essential for sustaining a critical mass of trainees and training-related research activity. Our students have an excellent record and graduates embark on careers that contribute substantially to research, education, and public service in the areas of population aging and health.