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| Medical Student Training in Aging Research |
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Program Description
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Research Programs |
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 Training Program
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Picking a Mentor
Each trainee will be assigned a primary mentor based on the trainee’s interests. Listings of research mentors are available on this website under Mentors. There you will find mentors from all three participating programs at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio. Prospective trainees can select from a broad range of available types of research, including basic, clinical, health services and behavioral and social research topics. Trainees are also encouraged to explore topics and mentors through email with Site Directors from the three programs. In all cases, the trainee and the mentor individually approve the proposed assignment. Assignments will be finalized on a first come first served basis
Summer Preparation once Accepted
After acceptance to the overall Pittsburgh/UTMB/UTHSCSA program and selection of one of the three sites but prior to the beginning of the summer program, trainees work with their assigned mentor to develop a more specific topic and research question. Many mentors have developed a variety of potential research questions that could feasibly be addressed by a medical student in the time available. Mentors are aware that each research project is expected to provide an opportunity for a real intellectual role for the trainee.
Prior to arrival, the trainee/mentor pair will develop a 1-2 page “dummy abstract” proposal for the summer research project using a structured format and guidelines for a feasible but rewarding summer project. These proposals will be submitted to the Pitt/UTMB/UTHSCSA Summer Program Leaders prior to the start date of the summer program to assure that the project appears feasible and likely to be productive for the trainee. The “dummy abstract” encourages trainees and mentors to work toward clear specific aims, defined methods, at least a general idea of the form of the results and the types of conclusions that are likely to be drawn. Students in our previous summer programs have found the dummy abstract to be a helpful roadmap as they pursue their project, develop an end of summer report and prepare for an AGS abstract and manuscript. Additional preparation for the summer experience includes planning and submitting any IRB documents that are needed to accomplish the work and completion of required web-based modules on responsible conduct of research. Students will also be provided with information about the Pittsburgh area and summer housing options (see our Living in Pittsburgh section for an overview of the area).
Segments of the Summer Program
Overview:
This is an 8 to 12 week research experience. Trainees are expected to spend the majority of their time on their research project, to attend a weekly group meeting where didactic applications and career issues are discussed and to attend local geriatrics seminars.
Summer Kick off:
Trainees attend a welcome session that is primarily intended to introduce trainees to each other, to the Directors and to faculty. Each participant will receive a notebook containing contact information and brief biographies of participating students, faculty and Program Leaders from all training sites, local maps and directions, a summer schedule, major references and articles and copies of all the dummy abstracts.
Mentored Research Projects:
The trainee works within the research program of the mentor, where they are expected to have access to study subjects or laboratory samples, measurement tools and instrumentation, staff and laboratory space as needed. All have a workspace within the mentor’s program area. While some trainees may be using secondary or existing data to address their own research question, most are expected to participate in some aspects of ongoing research in order to learn more about the process of conducting research. Mentors meet with trainees on a regular basis, most often weekly.
Group Sessions:
There is a weekly research skills session led by the Program Directors.
The purpose of the meetings are to:
1) Provide information in a way that is relevant to the trainee
2) Share progress and challenges with the group
3) Compare and contrast research approaches between projects
Each session has a main topic that aligns with the likely progress and concerns of the trainee. For each topic, the trainee is expected to address the issue in their own work and to be able to explain their findings to others. Ethics topics are integrated into the sequence in order to maximize relevance. Thus there is a roundtable discussion of topics with both research and ethical dimensions such as types of samples and informed consent, approaches to measurement and respondent burden, analytic strategies, misconduct and authorship. Students also enjoy using weekly group time to discuss progress and challenges of their work and to hear about each other’s experiences.
Careers and Professionalism sessions:
These informal early evening social sessions include refreshments in an off campus setting and address career planning, balancing roles and exploring interests. Each session hosts visitors who are at various points along the career pathway from advanced medical students to residents and fellows to junior and senior faculty from various disciplines..
Site Visits:
There is elective time for site visits. Our prior summer medical students have enjoyed visiting other research programs to learn about techniques and approaches. They also enjoyed visiting clinical sites such as ambulatory, long term care, day care and wellness programs. A listing of options is provided and individual interests can also often be accommodated.
Capstone:
This is an end of summer celebration and gathering of trainees and mentors. The event includes refreshments and presentations. We also review the overall summer experience including what worked and what can be improved. Please see link below to view some of our Summer 2006 students' completed projects.
Post Program Support
We plan to create a list-serve of summer program alumni and periodically send out updates about trainee achievements and notices of new career opportunities. Mentors and local directors will assist with final preparation of AGS abstract submissions and preparation of posters for the AGS meeting.
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Research Programs
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The University of Pittsburgh
Programs are sponsored in 3 main areas:
1) Geriatrics, Syndromes and Systems
2) Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
3) Biology of Aging
The research programs at the University of Pittsburgh are supported by extensive research funding including NIH funded programs such as the Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, the Late Life Disorders Center, the Cardiovascular Health Study and the Health, Aging and Body Composition study. There are multiple individual and group funded projects in multiple schools including the Schools of Medicine, Public Health and Engineering.
The following are major areas of research strength at the University of Pittsburgh
Geriatrics:
• Mobility and balance disorders
• Urinary incontinence and aging from molecular mechanisms to health outcomes
• Pain in older adults
• Pharmacotherapy and pharmacoepidemiology
• Disparities in use of joint replacement
• Subclinical cardiovascular disease in older adults
• Body composition, especially muscle
• Critical care in the older adult
• Vestibular disorders and multisensory inputs to balance
• Biomechanical analysis of human movement
• Osteoporosis in men and women
• Skeletal muscle metabolism and function in aging and disease.
• Employer sponsored health insurance and Medicare payment systems
• Osteoarthritis
• Molecular biology and genomics technologies in population-based aging studies.
Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology:
• Geriatric depression and related disorders
• Functional neuroanatomy of late-life depression and dementia using functional and structural MRI
• Mental-health prevention research in neurologically impaired elderly
• Late-life chronic illness and family relationships
• Treatment of anxiety disorders (particularly Generalized Anxiety Disorder) in elderly persons
• Late-life major depressive disorders and sequelae such as physical disability.
• Sleep disorders of aging including circadian disruption and effects on mood and performance.
• Causes and consequences of dopamine neuron death in cellular and animal models of Parkinson’s disease and of aging.
• Gene expression and activity control of cell death in neurons subjected to anoxia, ischemia and other insults
• Effects of late life illness and disability on patients and their families.
Biology of Aging:
• Cellular and molecular events controlling the formation and activity of osteoclasts in myeloma and Paget’s disease
• Mechanism of DNA base excision repair (BER) and the role this DNA repair pathway plays in genome stability
• Tumor-induced and age-mediated alterations of the immune system in humans and animals
• Genetic control of aging in C Elegans
The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA)
The UTHSCSA is the leading biomedical education and research institution in Central and South Texas. The UTHSCSA is the heart of the development of the “South Texas Initiative”, planned and executed by the Texas State Legislature at the University of Texas System to refocus fiscal and human resources to expand the educational and medical facilities for the Mexican-American population in this region of the State. Over 30 percent of the 2,700 students enrolled at UTHSCSA are minority students. The Medical Hispanic Center of Excellence (MHCOE) has been in existence since 1991 at UTHSCSA.
Aging research at UTHSCSA
In addition to its excellent research programs in clinical and basic research in aging and geriatrics, the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies of San Antonio provides one of the nation’s best environments for training of students and fellows in aging and geriatrics. Training opportunities in a broad spectrum of aging/geriatric research areas are enriched by an expanding array of Core facilities dedicated to providing specific services of relevance to both basic and clinical research on aging/geriatrics.
Over the past 20 years, NIA funding to the UTHSCSA has increased dramatically from 5 grants for less than $1 million in 1984 to 31 grants for over $12 million in fiscal year 2002-2003. The UTHSCSA ranks first in Texas in NIA funding and third nationally in NIA funding.
The following are major areas of research strength at UTHSCSA:
Clinical research:
• Ethnicity and disability
• Human cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology
• Education research
• Medical evidence in clinical practice
• Interdisciplinary model programs in combined geriatric medicine and palliative care
Basic science research:
• Novel long lived animal models
• Human cellular aging and the use of new techniques to study gene action
• Aging and dauer development in C. elegans
• The insulin signal transduction pathway
• The molecular biology of aging and mechanisms of telomere maintenance in human cancers
• Endocrine and neuroendocrine modifying genes that can be modulated to retard and/or ameliorate the deleterious impact of mammalian aging processes
• Cell culture, molecular and biochemical techniques for studies of in vitro aging
• Oxidative stress/damage and aging and age-related diseases using transgenic and knockout mice
• Growth factors in the aging brain
• Inflammatory mediated mechanisms of skeletal muscle regeneration
• Mitochondrial alterations in neurodegenerative diseases
• Impact of DNA repair on mutagenesis and pathology relative to age
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB)
UTMB has numerous active research programs in aging. In addition to its NIA sponsored Claude D. Pepper Center, UTMB hosts the Hispanic EPESE, and a Center for Population and Health Disparities with a focus on cancer and aging in minority populations.
The following are areas of research strength at UTMB:
• Gastrointestinal disease
• Sepsis and molecular response to stress
• Muscle metabolism
• Wound healing
• Cancer outcomes
• Disability and rehabilitation
• Multiple aspects of aging in Hispanic populations
• Chronic inflammatory stress
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