Background

Government indicators project that the population of Americans age 65 or older is expected to increase from 13% to 20% of the population by the year 2030, when the average baby boomer will turn 80 years old. The aging of America's population poses a unique challenge to scientific research. If the nation is to cope sensibly and humanely with its rapidly growing population of older citizens - growing both in total numbers and in proportion to younger Americans - significant breakthroughs in understanding the basic biological processes that underlie aging-related diseases and disorders are the most promising approach to achieving genuine prevention or improvement of age-related debilitation and disease. Through research, the complex processes of aging are being revealed at a rapidly accelerating rate through discoveries in the fields of biochemistry, immunology, neurobiology and molecular genetics, to name a few. It is now believed that such breakthroughs in understanding these processes are not only possible, but in fact are the likely consequence of the application of modern biological research techniques.

To pursue this new knowledge, talented investigators must be attracted to aging research. Senior postdoctoral fellows are often at a particularly vulnerable stage in their career as an adequate funding base is not always available. It is for these reasons that the The Ellison Medical Foundation and AFAR created the Senior Postdoctoral Fellows Research Program.

The Program

The Ellison Medical Foundation, in partnership with the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), created the Ellison/AFAR Senior Postdoctoral Fellows Research Program to encourage and further the careers of senior postdoctoral fellows with outstanding promise in the basic biological and biomedical sciences relevant to understanding aging processes and age-related diseases and disabilities. The award is intended to provide significant support to permit these postdoctoral fellows to become established in the field of aging. Projects concerned with understanding the basic mechanisms of aging will be considered. Projects investigating age-related diseases are also supported, if approached from the point of view of how basic aging processes may lead to these outcomes. Projects concerning mechanisms underlying common geriatric functional disorders are also considered. It is anticipated that 3 two-year grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded in 2008. For each year, up to $45,000 may be requested for salary support and up to $5,000 for research support (personnel, supplies, equipment.)

Recipients of this award are expected to attend the AFAR Grantee Conference. The purpose of the meeting is to promote scientific and personal exchanges among recent AFAR grantees and experts in aging research.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant must be a postdoctoral fellow (MD and/or PhD degree) and will have at least three and not more than five years of prior postdoctoral training at the time of the award, July 1, 2008.
• The proposed research must be conducted at any type of not-for-profit setting in the United States. Applicants who are employees in the NIH Intramural program are not eligible.
• Fellows may not hold any concurrent foundation or not-for-profit funding.

Applicants cannot also apply to the Ellison/AFAR Postdoctoral Fellows in Aging Research Program, however applications to this program may also be considered for the Ellison/AFAR Postdoctoral Research in Aging Program if deemed competitive.

Any former Ellison/AFAR postdoctoral award recipient may apply for this award if the criteria above are met.

The deadline for receipt of applications and all supporting materials is December 17, 2007. Applications are reviewed through a two-tier review system. The initial screening takes place in mid-April, after which candidates are advised of the status of their applications. A final decision about grant awards is made in early June. The following criteria are used to determine the merit of an application:

• Qualifications of the applicant
• Quality of the proposed research
• Excellence of the research environment
• Likelihood that the project will advance the applicant's career in aging research
• Mentor's strength and qualifications to guide the applicant's research and career planning
• Proposed training opportunities

If you are using animals in your research, please review Principles of Animal Use for Gerontological Research.

Application Procedures

All candidates must submit applications endorsed by their institutions. The deadline for receipt of all applications and supporting materials is December 17, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. EST. Please refer to the Ellison/AFAR instruction sheet and application for complete application procedures. Incomplete applications cannot be considered.

Those applicants who are selected for the second level of review will be contacted by mail by mid-April. AFAR can provide critiques only for those applications that are reviewed at the second stage by their Review Committee.

For an application, click here.

Reporting Requirements

Investigators will be required to submit brief narrative reports on the progress of their research semi-annually. Final narrative and financial reports are required within three months following the end date of the award.

The Ellison Medical Foundation, established and supported by Lawrence J. Ellison, fosters creativity in biomedical research by supporting basic biomedical research on aging relevant to understanding aging processes and age-related diseases and disabilities. The Foundation particularly wishes to stimulate new, creative, research that might not be funded by traditional sources or that is often under-funded in the U.S. The Ellison Medical Foundation fosters research by means of grants-in-aid to investigators at universities and laboratories within the United States using a variety of award mechanisms.

Complete listing of all AFAR Selection Committees.

Listing of all AFAR Award Recipients

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