The purpose of the External Research Resources Support and Dissemination Core is to communication and disseminated information about research resources, methods, and findings within RAND and to the larger scientific and policies communities. In support of this goal, this core will engage in a series of activities related to three specific aims: (1) to provide information to the external research community on opportunities to conduct research on aging-related issues using the RAND Family Life Surveys (FLSs) and to facilitate access to and use of those data; (2) to host a biennial Mini-Medical School to train social scientists in the tools and methods from the biomedical sciences relevant for research on aging; and (3) to disseminate research findings to broader audiences through policy briefs and other documents. The FLSs, collected in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia with support from NIA, represent a uniquely rich resource for studying issues related to populating aging in low income settings undergoing rapid social, economic and demographic change. In addition to providing ongoing support for external users through a state-of-the-art electronic information and access service, we will administer a small grants program to support research on aging using the FLS data. The relevance of biomedical issues for research on aging points to an important need to bridge the biomedical and social sciences research communities. Following the success of the inaugural MiniMed program held at RAND serve as a forum to help social scientists digest and interpret medical knowledge related to aging. The central goal of MiniMed is to bring together biomedical and social scientists for several days of interactive lectures on diverse topics. Participating social scientists will gain insight into the science of aging a greater understanding of relevant medical issues. Dissemination is a key objective of this Core. Building upon the successful dissemination activities in the current P20 Center, we will issue a series of policy briefs and policy-oriented papers more accessible to the Federal government and the policy making community. These documents will be made available in hardcopy format or electronically through the Center's web page.
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