# Get Experience in Aging Research Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP)

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2022 · $402,708

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Minorities remain underrepresented in aging-research-related professions, including demography and
economics of aging, health, and health care. In health services research (HSR), which studies the
organization, financing, and delivery of health care and provides an evidence base that is central to addressing
issues of care quality, access, affordability, and equity, Blacks and Hispanics accounting for only 6.9% and
3.7%, respectively, of the HSR workforce.[1] In economics there has been an almost 20-year stagnation in the
number of degrees, Bachelors or Doctorate, awarded to women and underrepresented minorities, despite
improvements in other STEM fields.[2] Yet underrepresented researchers bring essential diverse perspectives
and, often, personal experiences to bear in understanding the social, economic, political, and environmental
determinants of racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care.
Pipeline programs in aging are critical to providing more diversity in the workforce as well as to developing
creative, culturally appropriate and sensitive solutions to issues associated with racial and ethnic health
disparities in aging populations. We propose a new pipeline program, Get Experience in Aging Research
Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP), in order to develop talented underrepresented minorities seeking
research careers with a focus in the demography and economics of aging, health, and health care, and
particularly health disparities in diverse communities. Building on the innovations in Penn’s Population Aging
and Research Center (PARC) and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics’ (LDI’s) infrastructure for
research, collaboration, and undergraduate training, we aim to enhance the diversity of the research workforce
in the demography and economics of aging, health, and health care by providing exciting mentored research
experiences to undergraduates for two consecutive summers, supplemented with programming throughout the
academic year. This 15-month program provides students an opportunity to grow and enhance the skills in
their toolbox, enrich their relationships with mentors and colleagues, and get more deeply involved and
committed to aging research. The goal of this program is to motivate undergraduate scholars to dedicate their
lives to addressing societal problems through research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10411181
- **Project number:** 1R25AG069719-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Norma B Coe
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $402,708
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-05-15 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10411181

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10411181, Get Experience in Aging Research Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) (1R25AG069719-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10411181. Licensed CC0.

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