Epidemiology and Biostatistics of Aging

This is an application for a 5-year renewal of an institutional training grant in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics of Aging, funded by NIA since 1996. This interdisciplinary program's goals are to train outstanding predoctoral and postdoctoral candidates to lead the next generation of quantitative research scientists addressing the health of our aging population. This program is conducted jointly by epidemiologists and biostatisticians with a strong commitment to bringing together students in both disciplines to develop expertise in the content areas and methodologies that are essential to advancement of the field. Students are trained to conduct leading- edge research that can inform the development of prevention programs to compress morbidity in the aging population. The program is based in the Departments of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Mental Health. It further involves faculty from departments throughout our Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing. A Program Director in Biostatistics, Co-Directors from Epidemiology and Mental Health, 6 other Associate Directors, and 19 other core faculty members will serve as mentors for the trainees. We propose to maintain our current program size of 8 predoctoral / 2 postdoctoral positions, in numbers balanced across sponsoring departments. We will support postdoctoral fellows at experience level 0, and those with clinical backgrounds seeking advanced research degree training, at level 5. We will target a 3-4 year duration for each predoctoral trainee and a two-year duration for each postdoctoral trainee. A core curriculum is expected of predoctoral trainees and customized to postdoctoral trainees. Trainees will continue to participate in biweekly research in progress meetings, seminars on aging, practica specific to this program, and training to build skills interdisciplinary collaboration. Research experiences and mentors are selected to ensure high quality findings worthy of peer-reviewed publication. We will continue to train students in epidemiologic and biostatistical methods and their application to aging, with topical emphases of data-intensive measurement and analysis in aging; the epidemiology of frailty, resilience, disability and chronic disease; statistical design, modeling and inference for gerontology; and cognitive, sensory and psychosocial aging. Longstanding content and new content (resilience; massive cohorts and health records) is to be combined within these emphases. Trainees have been highly productive, gained substantial recognition for their research, and launched their careers in appealing positions with aging focus. Graduates will be effective leaders of multidisciplinary research teams tackling the health problems associated with the aging US population.