UK-ADRC Research Education Component (REC) Scholar Training Program

Junior Investigators in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

The REC Scholars Training Program is a newly established program supported by our NIH Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (UK-ADRC) grant P30 AG072946. The program is aimed at junior investigators (assistant professors or clinical fellows) and will provide protected time and support for junior investigators from multidisciplinary fields to pursue mentored basic, translational, or clinical research in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias. Awards are intended to provide seed funding and protected time that will facilitate the initial testing of novel hypotheses that lead to national-level funding of an expanded research plan based on the pilot work.

Fostering Career Development Goals

Scholars will follow a customized training plan to foster career development goals with mentored support. Training is provided in a supportive and collaborative academic environment with experienced and dedicated training faculty. The REC Scholars Training Program will generally be a 2-year appointment (if review of the Scholar’s performance and progress at the end of the first year is deemed acceptable).

Financial Awards

Successful applicants will be awarded $30,000 per year, which will generally be used for salary support to provide protected research time. However, up to $10,000 of this funding per year can be used to conduct pilot studies or other activities that will enhance the Scholar’s career development. Scholars will also receive an additional allotment of up to $10,000 in support per year for travel for workshops or experiential learning exchanges and to attend semiannual national ADRC meetings. 

Eligibility

The REC Scholars program is limited to assistant professors or clinical fellows with a primary appointment at UK. Postdoctoral scholars and fellows are NOT eligible to apply. Proposals with a focus on basic/clinical/translational research relevant to AD and related dementias are strongly encouraged and of particular interest. Areas of special interest include studies on risk factors, prevention, preclinical AD, therapeutics, caregiving, minority populations, health disparities, cognitive processes, and neuroimaging.

The REC Scholar applications are currently being reviewed and will begin July 1, 2024.