# USC-Buck Geroscience Training in the Biology of Aging

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2021 · $613,099

## Abstract

Abstract
This is a renewal application for the USC-Buck Geroscience Training Program in the Biology of Aging T32
Training Grant which was first funded as of May 1st, 2016. The training program is an unique cooperative
venture of the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology (USC) and the Buck
Institute for Research on Aging (Buck). In 2014, in a truly joint venture, we created the very first dedicated
Biology of Aging Ph.D. program in the USA. Students take courses at both institutions, many in person but also
in a fully interactive on-line format and undertake first-year lab. rotations at both campuses before selecting a
mentor and lab. at USC or the Buck. As we come to the end of the fourth year of our T32 grant we are pleased
to report that our young PhD program is comprised of a current PhD student body of 41 PhD candidates.
Although our inaugural admission to the program was in 2014, we have already graduated 7 PhD students and
expect another 6-7 to graduate with their doctoral degrees by the end of the current grant period – average time
to degree completion is 5 years. Thirteen predoctoral trainees and six postdoctoral trainees have been
supported by our T32 grant. The goals of our Biology of Aging program are as follows: 1) To train pre-doctoral
and post-doctoral researchers who will become leaders in the biology of aging field. Our training encompasses
biochemistry, molecular biology, molecular genetics, physiology, neurobiology, computational biology,
immunology, and pathology; 2) To enable students and post-doctoral fellows to become experts in the theory
and methods of one specific area of biological research, but also enable them to incorporate methods and
approaches from other disciplines of cutting-edge areas of aging research; 3) To provide our students and post-
doctoral fellows with training which incorporates familiarity with the theory, methods, and data of the multiple
aging disciplines that are essential to dealing with national issues arising from the aging of the population (e.g.
susceptibility to, or poor outcomes from, viral diseases such as COVID-19) as well as insuring individuals a
long, healthy life: 4) To provide predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees with structured curriculum and research
experiences that lead to mastery of the knowledge, methods, analytic approaches, and theory of the
gerosciences; 5) To provide both predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees structured exposures that allow them to
gain understanding of the knowledge, methods, and theory of other relevant gerontological disciplines
(sociology, psychology, public policy, elder-law, elder-economics, etc.) through scheduled activities such as the
weekly Multidisciplinary Research Colloquium in Aging, and courses, such as GERO 592 – “Multidisciplinary
Perspectives on Current Research in Gerontology.”; 6) To develop demonstrable research competence,
emphasizing ethics, the responsible conduct of research, and methods for enhanc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10172569
- **Project number:** 2T32AG052374-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Sean P CURRAN
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $613,099
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-05-01 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10172569

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10172569, USC-Buck Geroscience Training in the Biology of Aging (2T32AG052374-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10172569. Licensed CC0.

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