Pipeline in Aging Career Training (PACT)

Offered through a partnership with Georgetown University, North Carolina Central University, and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC)

Background

The Pipeline in Aging Career Training (PACT) program addresses enhancement of training opportunities for particular demographic groups in critical research in the aging and biomedicine workforce. Within the scientific community in the United States, 7.7% is composed of demographic groups with limited representation, and there is a great need for biomedical scientists from these groups to expand the biomedical workforce and address health outcome gaps.

Combining the talent and resources of institutions serving these demographic groups with limited representation with a neurosciences, cancer biology and biostatistics training team into a structured mentoring program will produce excellent outcomes for trainees. The goal of the PACT program is to produce cohorts of rigorously trained undergraduate students with the confidence to successfully complete undergraduate science degrees, pursue graduate level education, and pursue aging-oriented career goals illuminated through this training.

Partnership Institutions:

Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center logo
North Carolina Central University logo
University of the District of Columbia logo

About the Program

This program, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Aging and the PACT partnership is open to rising college sophomores and juniors with an interest in Biology, Health Equity, Epidemiology, and Social Sciences in Aging, and/or Biomedical Research. Applicants from the Partnership Institutions are strongly encouraged to apply.

Program Features

  • 8-week full-time program available beginning June 2, 2025 ($4,000 stipend); Georgetown campus housing, meal allowance, and DC Metro fare card also offered to trainees
  • A kickoff of six focused days of hands-on lab training and evening seminars 
  • A Geroscience meeting featuring National Institutes of Aging-training specialists and experts in aging research Issues
  • During the 2025-2026 academic year, continued research with co-mentors and touchpoint activities on the home campus
  • Monthly PACT aging research seminars throughout the academic year
  • Carefully matched and experienced mentors and peer mentors for each trainee
  • Designated online workspace designed to facilitate mentoring, peer interactions, and community

2025 Pipeline for Aging Career Training Program Mentors and Research Interests

Thomas Coate, PhD, Professor of Biology (view faculty profile)

  • The role of APOE in spiral ganglion neuron (SGN) development and maintenance

Patrick Forcelli, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, GUMC (view faculty profile)

  • Epilepsy, traumatic brain injury and HIV, senescence, microglia, cognition and behavior mouse models, confocal microscopy

Jeffrey Huang, PhD, Professor of Biology (view faculty profile)

  • The impact of aging and neuroinflammation on brain repair in multiple sclerosis (MS) and how the aging environment affects myelin regeneration (remyelination) in mice

Barry Hudson, PhD, Associate Professor of Oncology (view faculty profile)

  • The impact of aging-related inflammation and immune dysfunction on cancer progression and metastasis. Investigating how targeting the RAGE signaling can mitigate aging-associated cancer progression and improve therapeutic outcomes in older patients.

Alejandra Hurtado, PhD, Professor of Oncology Co-mentor (view faculty profile)

  • Health disparities in breast cancer

Moshe Levi, MD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (view faculty profile)

  • Factors contributory to age related kidney disease.

Kathleen Maguire-Zeiss, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience (view faculty profile)

  • The role of glial cells and neuroinflammation in the disease process of neurodegenerative disorders of aging. Use of rodent models, primary cultured cells, immunostaining, quantitative mRNA/miRNA analyses, proteomic analyses, microscopy, and image analyses.

Mary Beth Martin, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Oncology (view faculty profile)

  • Does environmental exposure to metals and metalloids accelerate aging?

Bill Rebeck, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience (view faculty profile)

  • The effects of APOE4 in cognitive impairment in chemotherapy treated elderly cancer patients

Yun Lin Zheng, PhD, Professor of Oncology (view faculty profile)

  • The relationship between telomere profile and biological age and aging-related diseases

Zainab Afzal, PhD, Biomedical/ Biotechnology Research Institute (view faculty profile)

  • Impact of Environmental Toxins on Aging in Killifish Model

Qing Cheng, MD, PhD, Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute (view faculty profile)

  • APOE4-induced brain changes across the lifespan, focusing on cholinergic signaling

Ping-An Li, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (view faculty profile)

  • Neuroinflammation responses in wildtype and Sirt3 KO mice

Timeline for Application

Final Application Deadline

March 7, 2025

Zoom Interviews Begin

January 6, 2025

Participants Selected on a Rolling Basis

All accepted participants will be notified by March 28, 2025.

Eligibility Criteria for Participation in the Program

  • Applicants to the program must be currently enrolled at Georgetown University, the University of the District of Columbia or North Carolina Central University. Rising sophomores, juniors and seniors are all eligible.
  • Applicants must either be a U.S. citizen, Permanent Resident, or an individual granted deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) status by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
  • Eligible students may include students from any of the following groups:
    • Individuals from certain demographic groups shown by the National Science Foundation to have less presence in health-related sciences on a national basis.
    • Individuals with varied abilities — a physical or mental impairment substantially limiting one or more major life activities.
    • Individuals who have/have experienced certain disadvantages (e.g. first-gen students, rural or urban education, Pell grant recipients, free/reduced lunch, and more).
  • Students can explain how they qualify for the program in the PACT Application.

Application

Apply Using This Google Form