The goal of the Research Career and Development Core (RCDC) is to promote the development of futureresearch leaders in the area of focus of this OAIC application: Integrating pathways affecting physicalfunction for new approaches to disability prevention. The RCDC achieves this goal by recruiting, selecting,and then fostering, mentoring, and training promising, talented junior faculty who are committed to agingresearch focused on understanding mechanisms of function decline and developing strategies for itsprevention among older Americans. The Core then provides and coordinates the resources needed fordevelopment of the essential skills required for an independent career conducting innovative multidisciplinary,translational research in aging. Detailed, specific research career development plans arecreated and tailored for each junior faculty mentee, including: a) a research project relevant to the theme ofthe OAIC, b) an explicit educational strategy emphasizing translational research, c) a formal mentorshipprogram that uses a team approach, and d) a monitoring process that formally evaluates the progress oftrainees using specific milestones, including generating, analyzing, and interpreting data; presentation offindings at national meetings; publication of findings in peer-reviewed journals; and timely submission ofwell-written, competitive grant proposals.The RCDC is led by a team of established, senior investigators with outstanding scientific, leadership,administrative, and mentoring skills and excellent track records of success in personally mentoring new andjunior investigators. Their complementary skill sets and integration into the highest levels of other entitiesthat are relevant to the Core's goals, both local and national, further strengthen and ensure success of theCore. The RCDC is well-integrated with all other OAIC cores, particularly the Pilot and Exploratory StudiesCore (PESC) and Biostatistics and Data Management Core (RC3). It collaborates closely with andintegrates resources available from several other key entities at Wake Forest that focus on junior facultycareer development. The Core further leverages resources by preparing its candidates for successfullycompeting for and obtaining independent, external career development funding.Research career development has been a core mission of the Wake Forest OAIC since its inception.Over the life of the Center, this has resulted in an outstanding record of success. The 19 junior faculty whopreviously completed support have subsequently received 50 independent research grant awards as PI andseveral have become national leaders in aging research. In this cycle, 7 out of 7 of the starting scholarshave subsequently received external funding awards or have advanced in academic rank. In the first year ofthis proposal, the RCDC will support research career development of 5 promising, highly motivated juniorfaculty.
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