Training Program in Gerontological and Geriatric Research

Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem NC

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Project Summary This competing revision application proposes to expand the scope of the existing highly successful T32 program in aging and geroscience, ?Training Program in Gerontological and Geriatric Research? at Wake Forest School of Medicine to add postdoctoral training in translational research in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD), and to support two postdoctoral training slots dedicated to training in ADRD. The expanded program will leverage and facilitate alignment of activities conducted in the newly established Wake Forest P30 Alzheimer's Disease Core Center (ADCC) with the longstanding Pepper Older Adult Independence Center (OAIC) and Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI), as well as the institutional Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Prevention, a Center with more than 125 faculty members from multiple disciplines whose combined extramural funding exceeds $50 million annually. The proposed expanded training program will leverage numerous resources from the Wake Forest ADCC, which provides a comprehensive infrastructure for research on the pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of ADRD. The ADCC has a special focus on the contributions of metabolic and vascular factors to early phase transitions from normal aging to MCI, and from MCI to AD and other dementias, through coordinated research activities spanning the translational spectrum. The proposed expanded program will also leverage resources related to the OAIC's scientific theme focused on integrating pathways affecting physical and cognitive function to develop new approaches to disability treatment and prevention. OAIC investigators have refined translational approaches that integrate relevant disability and functional measures, behavioral and cognitive science, biostatistics, genomics, muscle and adipose tissue biology, animal models including non- human primates, biomarkers, state-of-the-art imaging modalities, and basic, clinical and population-based study designs. The seamless integration of the aging and ADRD foci through enhanced alignment of training and educational programs sponsored by the ADRC and OAIC within the expanded T32 will facilitate trainees' understanding of core issues related to the relationships between aging and AD as well as establishing an interdisciplinary training environment that will set the stage for their future research development. As such, it will be uniquely qualified to facilitate the development of a new generation of researchers who are equipped to address critical issues highlighted in the 2018 NIA ADRD Summit: 1) the development of a new translational and data science workforce; 2) understanding the role of aging in AD pathogenesis; 3) understanding all aspects of healthy aging and cognitive resilience to inform strategies for AD prevention; 4) expanding integrative, data-driven research approaches that will address the complexity of ADRD and the added contribution of co-morbid conditions; and 4) engaging citizens, caregivers and patients as equal partners in AD research through community based research including pragmatic trials and adaptive care models.