Collaborators: Karen Fingerman (PI), Kira Birditt (Co-I)
Project Summary: The Program Development and Pilot Core aims to seed new lines of transformative research, mentor the next generation of scientists who study aging populations, and generate novel methods, techniques, and data critical to furthering the health and well-being of an aging U.S. population. The Development Core will oversee two types of pilot project awards—Emerging Scholar Pilot Projects and Innovation Pilot Projects—that address health disparities in aging and advance the Center’s three thematic research areas: 1) Biosocial Processes, 2) Family and Social Engagement, and 3) Socioeconomic and Institutional Contexts. Development Core activities advance three specific aims. Aim 1 is to cultivate transformative research on aging populations through an Emerging Scholar Pilot and Mentoring Program, a two-year program to mentor emerging scholars and foster groundbreaking research, from developing their preliminary concepts and plans through the successful completion of pilot projects and the transition to a competitive NIH research application. In year 1 of the two-year mentoring program, emerging scholars will receive the mentorship and peer support necessary for the successful completion of their pilot project. Aim 2 is to facilitate the submission of emerging scholars’ R/K-series applications to NIH. Year 2 of the mentoring program will provide individualized mentorship to prepare the application, supported by a Grant Writing Boot Camp, peer writing groups, and mock reviews of application drafts. Emerging scholars at institutions throughout the U.S. can apply to participate in the core’s pilot and mentoring program. Aim 3 is to promote novel methods, techniques, and data generation through an Innovation Pilot Project Program open to scholars across career stages and institutions. Both types of pilot projects will be selected based on their potential to advance scholarship on aging and lead to competitive NIH applications. Innovation Pilot Projects will also be evaluated based on the potential for the broad distribution and use of novel data sources or methods. The Development Core will coordinate with the Administrative Core for the provision of state-of-the-art pre- and post-award grant support, with the Communication and Dissemination Core to disseminate findings and data arising from pilot projects, and the External Network Core on Aging SM Populations for cross-fertilization of pilot activities between the cores. Development Core activities will cultivate pioneering research, support emerging scholars’ research careers, and accelerate the development of novel data and scientific findings to share with the scientific community. The Development Core’s mentoring activities, conducted by some of the nation’s most prominent behavioral and social scientists, will ensure that emerging scholars become future leaders in the field.