The Research Development Core (RDC) of the Claude Pepper OAIC at University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) will 1) recruit junior investigators of promise from UCHC clinical and basic science departments; 2) provide Senior and New Mentors to oversee training in an enriched environment of independence-enhancing aging research; 3) conduct an independence-oriented research training curriculum; 4) implement a Pilot grants program; and 5) create an RDC executive board to set policy, award Pilot funds, pick trainees and monitor progress. A major resource is the Travelers Center on Aging (TCA), the University- wide center charged with conduct and oversight of research and teaching related to the well-being of older adults, and its Geriatrics Fellowship Training Program. Other components participating in the RDC include the General Clinical Research Center (Director, L Raisz); the endowed Travelers Research Institute on Health Promotion and Aging; and the UCHC Human Performance Laboratories, consisting of Balance and Gait Enhancement (L Wolfson, J Judge) and Exercise Research and Osteoporosis (G Dalsky). The TCA Geriatrics Fellowship has graduated 27 physicians; all but one hold full-time faculty positions in aging, and 9 are research-intensive. The RDC core leader (R Besdine) has extensive experience (18 yrs, UCHC and Harvard) in developing and training new faculty in aging research. Seven experienced research mentors (Drs. Dalsky, Hesselbrock, Katz, Raisz, Reisine, Rothfield, Wolfson) will directly precept individual junior faculty enrolled in the RDC, using their proven special expertise (exercise, clinical trials, epidemiology, osteoporosis, behavioral studies, arthritis, balance, respectively) concerning musculo-skeletal aging and its complications. Senior Mentors will be assisted in research training activities by a cadre of recently independent (New Mentors) investigators, examples of ongoing program success (Drs. Judge, Morse, Pilbeam, Prestwood; gait and balance, epidemiology, basic osteoporosis, clinical osteoporosis, respectively). Most training will occur by mentor-trainee collaboration in design, conduct, analysis and reporting of research, complemented by project- specific training in other UCHC research programs or graduate courses. Evaluation of trainee-mentor pairs by executive board will be quarterly.
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