Research Development Core

University Of Oklahoma Hlth Sciences Ctr, Oklahoma City OK

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CORE The Research Development Core (RDC) of the Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center (NSC) is designed to accelerate progress in the biology of aging/geroscience research by enabling the scientific community nationwide to access advanced services and resources of its Cores. The RDC helps the NSC achieve these goals by (a) increasing the number of investigators who conduct research in aging and geroscience; (b) promoting the advancement of experienced investigators by providing funded access to cutting-edge, transformative technologies often unavailable in individual laboratories or institutional cores; (c) providing mentoring, technical, educational, and collaborative resources to enable development of, and transition to, an independent career in the biology of aging/geroscience; and (d) ensuring dissemination of knowledge while providing access and opportunity for all researchers to benefit from services and activities of the NSC. In the current funding cycle, we awarded 36 Pilot Grants (78% to external investigators) to investigators in 19 states and 28 institutions. This work has yielded 25 publications. Thirteen Pilot PIs (36% of all Pilot awardees in the current cycle) have already received external funding related to their pilot grant. Since the program's inception in 2023, we have also accepted 7 early-stage faculty members in our NSC Mentorship Program, advancing our goals to enable sustained progress in aging/geroscience research through mentorship and increasing access and opportunity for all investigators in aging/geroscience. Three (3) aims are proposed for the planned NSC RDC: 1. Support pilot projects for early- stage and senior investigators initiating new research programs in aging/geroscience. 2. Disseminate technologies, train researchers, and provide intensive mentorship to outstanding early-stage investigators in aging and geroscience. 3. Ensure access and opportunity to promote participation of all investigators in NSC activities and programs. The RDC, with shared and diverse leadership (Drs. William Sonntag and Ann Chiao, RDC Co-Leaders; Dr. Sarah Ocañas, leader of the Access, Opportunity and Outreach (AOO) component), will continue advancing NIA's mission and our Center's goals to accelerate progress in the biology of aging and geroscience research. We expect that through its Pilot, Mentorship, and AOO programs, the RDC and our Shock Center will continue to have a transformative impact on research on aging and geroscience and advance the careers of young/mid-level scientists, future leaders of the field. The RDC works closely with other cores and catalyzes cutting-edge research and develops the next generation of aging and geroscience researchers through its interaction with all Research Cores at the Oklahoma NSC. This Core will work closely with the PEC and the NSC3 to advertise our program, ensure that resources from our NSC are accessible to all investigators, and provide maximal benefit to our nation's aging and geroscience research community.