TRAINing in Aging Health & Health Services for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (TRAIN-ADRD)

Project Summary Currently, more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD); a number that is expected to more than double by 2050. The projected growth in population aging and dementia requires an army of skilled researchers to accelerate research on ADRD and produce evidence that provides better clinical care and services for people living with dementia and their families - goals of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. The proposed training program, "TRAINing in Aging Health & Health Services for Dementia Care (TRAIN-AD),” seeks to develop the next generation of researchers skilled at integrating epidemiological and biostatistics methods into health services research with applications in dementia care. Over the last decade, major advances in the knowledge base of gerontology, with an emphasis on ADRD, have been occurring thanks to a proliferation of genetic, clinical, epidemiological and health services data that can be leveraged to address novel research questions. Researchers of the future must know how to maximize the use of these data sources. Thus, in the future there will be a premium placed on young investigators cognizant of methodological advances ranging from new strategies for collecting, merging and managing data sets; new and refined statistics and analytic strategies; and major new tools for integrating social, health, and biological data. The proposed renewal of our training program addresses the major goals of the NIA Strategic Plan for research, by educating well-trained researchers with multi-disciplinary experience and a broad understanding of the biological, social, health, service and policy aspects of aging and dementia care. Building upon a rich research and training environment with over two decades of experience training investigators focused on understanding how the older adults use and are affected by health services, this competing renewal application will: 1) Recruit high quality doctoral students into aging research with a specific focus on ADRD; 2) Provide training in substantive topics relevant to health services research in aging and ADRD; 3) Provide education in epidemiological and statistical methods with applications to aging and ADRD research; 4) Provide research experiences in ongoing health services research projects related to aging and ADRD; and 5) Prepare students for research careers as independent scientists and leaders. Since our last renewal, the number and quality of applicants has tripled and over half of the students this training grant has supported are from historically under- represented groups. Given the increase in NIA-funded ADRD-related research among our faculty and students, we are requesting 4 predoctoral slots who will be served by 36 trainers under this renewal.