Entrepreneurship & Science Communication for Aging and Aging-related Research (ESCAAR) Program for Doctoral Students and Postdoctoral Scholars

The 2018 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduate education report identified entrepreneurship and science communication as key skills for interdisciplinary teamwork in academia and beyond. Integrating entrepreneurship into STEM fields fosters innovation and helps students understand the broader economic and social impacts of their work. This is only possible when engaging stakeholders such as investors, policymakers, and public audiences through strategic science communication. However, few programs combine these skill sets, despite their versatility for careers in industry, advocacy, and education. Enhanced science communication and entrepreneurship skills training ensures that research about aging and aging-related diseases is accessible to stakeholders, disseminated broadly, and translated into marketable solutions. This requires navigating commercialization and public engagement while also combating ageism and shifting perceptions of aging from decline to a complex, multidimensional process. Our proposed skills development, the Entrepreneurship & Science Communication for Aging and Aging-related Research (ESCAAR) program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), aims to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and real-world applications. We plan to train a cohort of early career researchers in the fields of aging and aging-related diseases to communicate effectively about the impact of their research to public audiences, investors, and other stakeholders. In year 1, the development year, our program will be developed in collaboration with UMB faculty experts in aging-related research and entrepreneurship, national science communication experts, and local and national educators with interdisciplinary backgrounds in science communication, entrepreneurship, and gerontology. In the first year, we will focus on the in-depth development of a multifaceted, blended in-person and online training program. In years 2 to 5, the training years, we will implement the ESCAAR program, with each year featuring a cohort of eight pre- and postdocs. Each cohort will spend a year working closely with the program leadership team, faculty mentors, science communication and entrepreneurship experts, and their peers to create materials focused on commercializing cutting-edge aging-related research. Additionally, we will establish an online ESCAAR Network that builds on the work trainees have started in their yearlong program. This network will provide ongoing support for our trainees as they pursue varied career paths. At the core of our program is inclusivity, both in how we define aging processes and how we communicate about the needs, contributions, and challenges of aging populations. We aim to advance academic, commercial, and public discourses on aging by reducing ageism and age-related stereotypes from an interdisciplinary perspective in collaboration with relevant stakeholders who have vested interests in research on aging and aging-related diseases.