Program for Aging Research In the Summer (PARIS)

Worldwide there are about 617 million people aged 65 or older, and this population continues to increase at an unparalleled rate. According to a report from the United States Census Bureau and commissioned by the National Institute on Aging, the current global percentage of older individuals of 8.5% is expected to surge to approximately 17% (or 1.6 billion people) of the world's population by 2050. The 65-and-over population of the United States is predicted to nearly double over the next three decades, from 48 million to 88 million. Although it is well known that age is a risk factor for a variety of acute and chronic disorders, the mechanisms underlying aging, and the best way to minimize the effects of this process on health, are not well understood. Therefore, research into the mechanisms of the aging process and strategies for treating age-related diseases is critical. Currently, there are also only about two geriatricians for every 100,000 Americans; as the US population continues to age, there will be a growing need for physicians trained to care for the elderly and age-related diseases across the nation. The proposed program will address these issues by providing medical students the opportunity to participate in aging research and to observe physicians caring for the elderly, with the idea of promoting a sustained interest in this field of aging medicine. The Program for Aging Research in the Summer, or PARIS, will build upon the success of the initial cycle of this grant, which for the past four years has arranged transportation, housing and research mentors for eight to ten students from four medical schools in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the US to pursue aging research at Augusta University (AU). This program has received highly positive endorsement from our program graduates, such that over the past four years, the number of applications to the program has continued to grow, with the applicants far exceeding the number of slots available. In addition, a new initiative at AU has resulted in the successful recruitment of several new faculty conducting aging research. Therefore, in this new cycle of PARIS, we are proposing to increase the number of slots in the program, as well as to create a new PARIS-like program (Program for Aging Research in Training Years 2-4 or PARTY) to train students from the medical school at AU, in aging research. As part of PARTY, we also seek to create new slots for PARIS graduates to return in their later years of medical school to continue their research, attend a national conference to present their data, and network with researchers in the aging field. Therefore, the specific aims of this program are to: (1) recruit and support 12 medical students for the PARIS summer program in aging research; (2) implement PARTY to allow participation of AU medical students in aging research and geriatric medicine; (3) recruit and support two PARIS program graduates to return to AU to participate in an additional 8- to 12-week research program at AU and attend a national aging conference; and (4) support mentorship training for the T35 mentors, via mentoring sessions/workshops available through a partnership with the AU Graduate School. With this program we hope to encourage medical student engagement in geroscience and geriatrics.