The Career Training in the Biology of Aging training program provides graduate students and post-doctoral fellows with a comprehensive, in-depth research training in aging biology, which emphasizes logical and conceptual thinking, together with career-oriented mentoring designed to promote success in a diverse professional landscape. We are requesting a continuation of 6 pre-doctoral and 3 post-doctoral training positions. Aging biology has a long and proud history at the University of Michigan (UM), which is consistently ranked as one of the top Universities in the world with institutional support for aging research that is at an elite level. The Geriatrics Center is recognized internationally for clinical, educational, and research programs, and it provides an outstanding setting for our Training Program. The program benefits from a Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, the Ann Arbor VA GRECC (Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Center), the Michigan Biology of Cardiovascular Aging program, and the Paul F. Glenn Center for Aging Research. Our preceptors are a diverse, highly-interactive, well-funded, and creative group that span 14 different departments/programs and four schools at UM. The popularity and success of our program is growing, as evidenced by (i) the spread of aging ?tracks? and subject matter into cognate graduate programs, (ii) the ability of us to (every year) appoint highly-qualified trainees to each of our slots, (iii) our ability to attract young, promising faculty members to our program, and (iv) an increasing national recognition through individual faculty awards and institutional support (e.g., the Glenn Laboratories designation and $12m investment from the Medical School to recruit six new faculty members in aging biology). Our program has long emphasized hypothesis-based laboratory training through creative and impactful research, and we have proactively enriched these experiences with successful initiatives that have enhanced diversity, provided exposure to diverse career opportunities, promoted synergy between the pre- and post-doctoral trainees. While continuing our successful Biogerontology Research Seminars, Biology of Aging Journal Clubs, and annual Research Symposium, we have implemented new career-oriented initiatives, involving PhD scholars who have succeeded in career paths distinct from traditional academics, including industry and entrepreneurship. These additions complement new efforts in mentorship including Certificate Programs that provide enhanced training in areas such as teaching, public policy, and translational education; integrated Individual Development Plans; summer workshops on coding, statistical rigor, and science writing; mentorship committees for our post- doctoral trainees and junior faculty; extensive training in the responsible conduct of research; and focused efforts to recruit and retain a diverse trainee population. We have also developed a new faculty position on our Advisory Board, the Diversity Liaison, which has resulted in creative, systemic initiatives that have been measurably successful in enhancing trainee diversity.
We propose a comprehensive training program in the biology of aging that will prepare trainees for careers at the forefront of academics, industry, and biotechnology, thereby promoting the discovery of a deeper biological understanding of the aging process and nurturing a passion to apply their experience to alleviate the cost and suffering associated with age-related disease.
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