We seek support to continue the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Summer Institute on the Demography, Economics, and Epidemiology of Aging for another three years: 1996, 1997, and 1998. The Institute, which was held at the RAND offices in Santa Monica, California in 1994 and 1995 has been an overwhelming success, as indicated by the large number of applications and the participants' evaluations. The goal of the NIA Summer Institute has been, and will continue to be, two-fold: * Presentation and discussion of cutting-edge research, and * Training and development of scholars entering the field. The Institute uses master lectures, research presentations, and other discussion formats to disseminate information and stimulate debate on topics critical to the study of aging. In addition, the Institute has sought to enhance the training of scholars who are new to research on aging. The relative paucity of training programs in aging studies, particularly in the fields of demography and economics, makes the Institute's second objective crucial. NIA-sponsored programs for developing the next generation of scholars are fairly recent, and these programs are concentrated in about a dozen graduate schools. Because each university has a particular focus, trainees are not always exposed to the full range of research on aging. Or if they are exposed, they do not have the chance to interact with the leading experts in all areas. Most of the scholars who are new to aging are post-doctoral trainees and junior faculty members at universities, many of whom have benefitted from NIA fellowships. Other attendees are NIA pre-doctoral fellows and senior faculty entering the field of aging. It is our mission to expose these emerging aging researchers to the scientific frontier in a wide variety of areas in the study of aging. If awarded, the conference grant would support the participation of nine lecturers and 18 trainees in each year. Another 33 participants would be invited under their own funding, except for common meals. The award would support the time for Lee Lillard, Bob Schoeni, and a secretary to organize the Institute each year as well as costs such as photocopying research papers and postage. A seven-person Advisory Committee consisting of top aging scholars from various disciplines would design the program each year.
