# GEROSCIENCE TRAINING PROGRAM IN OKLAHOMA

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR · 2024 · $335,203

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 The etiology of aging and age-related disease is poorly understood. Over the past 3 decades, there have
been impressive advances in our understanding of the critical role of aging in the development of many diseases
that limit quality of life. Aging and diseases associated with age clearly result in dependence and a severe
reduction in health-span; however, without a clear understanding of the interactions between aging and disease,
effective therapies cannot be developed. Our training program in GeroScience was initiated in 2017 as a new
approach to training the next generation of researchers to address the complex causes of aging and their
interactions with age-related disease. We originally requested support for 3 pre-doctoral and 4 post-doctoral
fellows for 16 faculty. Over the last 4 years, the program has leveraged this support to train a total of 8 pre-
doctoral trainees and 9 post-doctoral trainees. The total number of trainees during this initial funding period will
continue to expand in the -05 year of the program. It is particularly important to note that as our trainees are
accepted to the T32 program, they undergo a rigorous training plan and are required to write grant applications
to support their proposed research. Importantly, trainees that rotate off our T32 due to the funding of their Federal
or Association sponsored awards continue to participate in, and benefit from, the overall training program that
we have established. Similarly, our mentors are recertified each year and we have developed a program to train
young mentors. Predoctoral Students: Of the 8 pre-doctoral students that have entered our program, seven (7)
are on-track or have completed their PhD. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the pre-doctoral students (6) have
written grant applications and, of those submitting applications, 100% have been funded. Importantly, these are
primarily F31, R36, and AHA grants. These trainees have produced 4.12 publications to date. Post-Doctoral
Fellows: Of the nine (9) post-doctoral candidates, seven (7) fellows have submitted grants thus far and, of these,
57% have received funding. The trainees average 8.91 publications to date. The vast majority of our students
have won local and national awards for their presentations. Those that have graduated have found employment
in both academic and pharmaceutical environments. Based on our level of success, current census and plans
for continued expansion of our program, we have increased our mentoring faculty to 21 and are requesting 4
graduate and 4 post-doctoral trainee positions to continue our training in GeroScience.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10873741
- **Project number:** 5T32AG052363-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Benjamin Francis Miller
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $335,203
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10873741

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10873741, GEROSCIENCE TRAINING PROGRAM IN OKLAHOMA (5T32AG052363-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10873741. Licensed CC0.

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