Educating the Next Generation of Multidisciplinary Scientists of Aging

A key feature of the Institute on Aging is training up and coming researchers to approach aging as an integrative challenge. Much of this is occurring through graduate and postdoctoral training via MIDUS (Midlife in the United States), a National Institute on Aging funded study that examines the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors as people age from early adulthood through later life. As shown in the figure, 300 graduate degrees have been completed using MIDUS data. Among the more than 2000 publications from the study, many have been generated by junior scientists.

In 2018, we also published The Oxford Handbook of Integrative Health Science to provide an overview of scientific findings emerging from the MIDUS study. Of the 35 chapters included, 75% were first-authored by junior scientists (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, assistant professors). Additionally, the Institute on Aging hosts annual meetings and workshops that bring scholars together to learn of cutting-edge advances from MIDUS as well as learn about new domains of data and methods of data analysis.