National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Aging science is for everyone! Join NIA this October to celebrate research diversity and the many training and career opportunities available to students and professionals across the education and career continuum. Here’s how to participate: ➡ Follow #ResearchDiversity on X and LinkedIn to learn about NIA's training and career opportunities. ➡ Tune in to NIA’s YouTube channel on Oct. 23 at 12:00 p.m. ET for a Q&A with NIA’s training officers on training programs for graduate students. You can also send your own questions to NIAoutreach@mail.nih.gov in advance for us to answer!    Check out our event page to learn more: https://lnkd.in/egAP2nGR #NIHAging #AgingScience 

NIA is supporting a new NOSI (NOT-OD-24-079) exploring women’s health research. This NOSI aligns with the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research and has several specific areas of interest related to women’s health and aging research. These include projects that examine: • Sex-specific aging processes • Extending healthy lifespan in women • Addressing health disparities in women • Implementation science research to promote uptake of evidence-based practices • Women’s reproductive aging, • Menopause transition • Female-specific etiologies and treatment strategies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) Check out more details in the full funding announcement: https://lnkd.in/eqki6XgR #NIHAging #WomensHealth #NOSI #AgingResearch

Which training award is right for you? What’s the best way to get clinical research experience? If you are a current or prospective graduate student interested in aging science, this Q&A could be for you! Join NIA on Oct. 23 at 12 p.m., ET for a YouTube Q&A to learn about NIA’s training and career opportunities. Learn more about the event: https://lnkd.in/eUb4KuiC #NIHAging #ResearchDiversity #Career #AgingScience

NIA has always been committed to increasing equity and diversity in aging research, including in the scientific workforce! Some programs NIA offers include the: • Summer Training in Aging Research (STAR) Program, which provides high school, college, graduate, and medical students with hands-on lab experience • Butler Williams Scholars (BWS) Program, which offers an inclusive applied learning experience for junior and mid-career faculty • Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, which provides career development, mentoring, and scientific infrastructure to support early-career investigators. Learn about these programs and more inclusive policies and resources to support a diverse aging science workforce from the NIA blog: https://lnkd.in/ez9Kvm5M #NIABlog #NIHAging #NIAWhereResearchComesOfAge #ResearchDiversity

Are you looking for a rewarding career in a collaborative, fast-paced environment? NIA is hiring! Open positions include: • Health Science Policy Analyst (Planning and Reporting Branch) • Director, Clinical Translational Program • Training/Program Analyst, Office of Strategic Extramural Programs Learn more and apply today: https://lnkd.in/ea2THUkd #NIHAging #Hiring #NIACareers

Alzheimer’s disease may damage the brain in two distinct phases, based on new NIH-funded research. Read more: https://bit.ly/3BLsvgy

“I was awarded an NIA Diversity Supplement at a crucial point in my academic career. In graduate school, my training primarily consisted of mastering the intricacies of conducting qualitative research methods. My book manuscript was near completion, and I was struggling to find a tenure-track faculty position. It crossed my mind that maybe it was time to leave academia and return to a career in sports marketing. Yet, my heart kept telling me there was important work left to be done. What started as a simple question, “What are the long-term health impacts of concussions on American football players?” was stuck in the back of my mind. Pursuing that question turned out to be the biggest challenge of my academic career. As a book author, my most direct path to contributing to the scientific literature would have been to draw on my medical sociological training to write a second book manuscript that documented the lived experience of American football athletes and their families confronted with the realities of CTE. Instead, I sought the council of the two most prominent Black male social and behavioral scientists in the field at the time, Drs. Keith Whitfield, and James Jackson. Dr. Whitfield told me that to pursue this line of inquiry I would need additional mixed-methods, aging, neurocognitive science, and health disparities training. With the assistance of these two highly esteemed senior mentors, I outlined a career development training and research plan that included twelve years of NIH funding. After a considerable amount of dedication, I achieved this goal, and it is an honor to be an early career Black male scholar and recipient of a 2-year NIA diversity supplement, 5-year Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01), and 5-year NINDS/NIA Research Project Grant (R01). Recently I was invited to speak at a symposium in honor of the late Dr. James S. Jackson. It was the proudest moment of my career. In many ways, Dr. Jackson singlehandedly breathed life into my career at a point when I was floundering to find my footing. Before Dr. Jackson took me under his wing, I had trouble finding someone willing to help me pursue my scientific passion for research. Dr. Jackson and Dr. Keith Whitfield both helped me develop the research program that allowed me to become the scholar I am today.” — Robert W. Turner II, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, The George Washington University Department of Clinical Research & Leadership, Secondary appointment in Neurology Learn more about NIA’s career development and training opportunities at https://lnkd.in/d_xuyA8R #NIAWhereResearchComesOfAge #Diversity #AgingResearch #NIHAging #NIAfunded #NIATraining

Are you a recent bachelor’s degree graduate interested in expanding your knowledge in aging science? Or maybe you’re interested in exploring a new area of aging science. Whatever the reason, NIA has a handful of training programs available for you! Find more information here: https://lnkd.in/dCZfEt5e #NIHAging #ResearchDiversity #AgingScience #Career

An NIA funded study found that 80% of adults over age 50 who were admitted to a long-term acute care hospital either died or had severe functional or cognitive impairments within 2.5 years. The researchers believe these results underscore an urgent need for increasing discussions about palliative care and goals of care among older adults facing hospitalization in an LTCH. Learn more from the study: https://lnkd.in/eghWbi44 #NIAFunded #NIHAging #LTCH #Cognition

A study, funded in part by NIA, found that a new blood test predicted an Alzheimer’s diagnosis with 88-92% accuracy. The blood test works by detecting the presence of beta-amyloid in the brain. Blood tests have the potential to make it easier to lower costs and expand access to less invasive options for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eB7zN_Ef #NIAfunded #NIHAging #NIAResearchReels #AlzheimersDisease