T32 Research Training

As a graduate student or potential postdoctoral fellow interested in aging research, you may qualify for training opportunities available through a T32 research training grant at Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging in Oklahoma City.

Support for Professional Research in Aging

Support your quest for answers to issues of aging and age-related disease with substantive skills that can help secure independent funding. Take advantage of professional research training at Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging. All seven T32 positions – four for postdoctoral fellows and three for graduate students – include mentorship designed to build your expertise and support your interests.

Program Mentors and Activities

At Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, program mentors typically come from within the professional aging community. A mentor from outside the aging community may be assigned a faculty member focused on aging research to serve as a co-mentor.

Along with you, mentors attend the fall/spring semester weekly seminar series and weekly journal club sponsored by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) and Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging. In addition, mentors meet regularly with you to assess and discuss progress on your defined project, including short-term and long-term/future goals. Mentors also assist you in submitting both publications and grant applications, as appropriate.

T32 Training Program Components

Participation in the T32 training program at Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Agingmeans you will:

• Attend fall/spring semester weekly seminar series and weekly journal club sponsored by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) and Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging
• Enroll and complete the spring semester six-week geroscience class led by the Program Director (Dr. Arlan Richardson), with lectures on a range of specific disease-related topics delivered by both clinical and research faculty
• Attend the F-Troop instructional series on the grants process; organized by Dr. Benjamin Miller and Willard Freeman
• Meet quarterly with your two mentors to track progress
• Apply for Research Career Development (K) award and/or Fellowship Grants (F) award through the National Institute of Health (NIH)
• Submit an annual (February 1) Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) following guidelines provided by the Geroscience Center
• Meet annually with the Geroscience Leadership Committee to review progress and future goals
• Acknowledge the geroscience training grant (NIA T32AG052363) on all publications you coauthor

Explore current topics in geroscience under study through T32 training for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students.

Available Positions & Term Lengths

Both postdoctoral fellowship and graduate student positions become available throughout the year. Applications are reviewed monthly.

Each of three (3) graduate student appointments may extend until they secure a fellowship grant or graduate from their program.

Each of four (4) appointments for postdoctoral fellows may extend for up to three (3) years or until they secure a grant.

Eligibility

To qualify for the T32 program:

• You must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (green card holder)
• Your research project must be designed to address aging and age-related diseases
• Graduate student applicants must successfully complete the Ph.D. qualifying examination (QE)

How You Benefit

Beyond the professional research knowledge and expertise you gain through participation in the T32 training program, you benefit from:

• Paid stipend per NIH NRSA guidelines
• Paid health insurance
• Travel budget
• Supply budget
• Tuition support

When you become a researcher at Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, you also may gain access to extensive research facilities and core services through the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), as well as Geroscience CoBRE core services.

How to Apply

Find out how to apply for T32 training and what to expect during the appointment process.

Join Oklahoma’s Geroscience Professionals

As a clinician, educator or researcher working in the area of age-related disease, you’re encouraged to become a member of the Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging. Join our broad effort to better understand the aging process, reduce disease and improve quality of life as we all get older.

View our leadership team and find OU Health geroscience clinical faculty.

Contact us to learn how you can partner with OU Health Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging.

National Funding Support for Oklahoma

Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging is funded in part by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.