Summer Training Course in Experimental Aging

Project Summary This Summer Training Course (STC) will be held for five days each June from 2025 through 2029. The STC will be directed by Drs. Kapahi and Hansen at the Buck Institute for Aging Research. The course site will rotate among three host institutions: Buck Institute for Research on Aging at Novato, CA, OMRF/OUHSC at Oklahoma City, OK, and the University of Washington at Seattle, WA. Similar STCs have been held with great success every summer since 1993. The STC is designed to foster career development in the field of aging research, provide trainees with intensive exposure to the latest research in experimental geroscience and individualized guidance regarding the development of a research proposal. Each year’s enrollment will be designed for 20 Trainees with most of the Trainees in the formative stage of their careers, i.e., junior faculty in their first four years or postdoctoral fellows in the last years of their training. Each trainee is expected to have at least two years of productive laboratory experience in some aspect of biology beyond the doctoral degree (MD, PhD, or DVM). The five-day program will include the following four activities: (a) overview lectures/seminars designed to introduce trainees to major areas of geroscience, (b) an opportunity for each trainee to present their Specific Aims for a research project that will be critiqued by the Training Faculty and a peer Trainee, (c) seminars focusing on the NIH system and funding opportunities at the NIA presented by NIA staff, and (d) Panel discussions and workshops, along with after-dinner discussions, focused on the skill sets needed and challenges of establishing an independent career with an emphasis on grant writing. Nine scientists will serve as the Steering Committee of the STC and will be responsible for selecting the Trainees and making changes in the organization or content of the STC: Drs. Kapahi (Director/PI), Hansen (Co- Director), & Lithgow who will host the STC at Novato (CA); Drs. Miller, Van Remmen, and Richardson, who will host the STC at Oklahoma City (OK); and Drs. Marcinek, Young, & Kennedy who will host the STC at Seattle (WA). In each STC, 13 Training Faculty who are leaders in the field of aging and have served on Study Sections related to aging will participate in each STC. Specifically, in addition to the three STC co-Leaders, four-six Teaching Faculty will attend from the host institution along with five-seven Visiting Faculty from other institutions. Following completion, Trainees are asked to review each STC and these reviews are considered by the Steering Committee when planning the next STC. Trainees will also be offered a 6-month virtual check- in meeting for further evaluation and feedback. The overall rating of the STCs over the past five years by the Trainees has been outstanding. 97% of the former trainees who responded to our poll are still involved in aging research, 85% of the Trainees have been successful in obtaining funding for their research on aging, and 42 of the Trainees have become new Assistant Professors.