Post-Acute Care Research Interest Group

Thursday, September 10, 4-5 pm ET: Guest researcher Kathleen T. Unroe, MD from the NEXT STEPs network will discuss conducting research and clinical trials in the nursing home setting

Social Determinants of Health Research Group

September 18, 12-1 pm EST: Using the Geriatric 5Ms to teach structural and social determinants of health with Dr. Rachel K. Miller

Please reach out to Andrea@afar.org if would like to participate in any of these groups.

Highlighted Topics: A Centralized and Simple Resource to Learn About Research Areas of Interest to NIH

Highlighted Topics, or HTs, are a new effort to specify areas of science of interest to one or more NIH Institutes or Centers. If an HT is of interest, reach out to the scientific contact at NIH to discuss your ideas and apply through an appropriate funding announcement. 

Latest scientific Highlighted Topics led by NIA:

NIH/NIA-Funded Annual Wellness Visit and Dementia Care Study Survey

Participants sought to complete this brief 15-minute online clinician survey designed to help improve Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) for individuals with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (NIA Award 1R01AG08310). 

NOT-OD-26-086: Request for Information: Proposal to Cap the Number of Simultaneous Research Project Grants per Principal Investigator to Support More Researchers and Maximize Scientific Productivity and Innovation

The Department of Defense’s 2026 Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program includes “Accelerated Aging Processes Associated with Military Service” as an eligible research topic. Investigators interested in applying can review the FY26 PRMRP funding opportunities here: CDMRP FY26 PRMRP Funding Opportunities

Open ORISE Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities at NIH Office of Research on Women's Health 

NIA questions can be addressed to NIATraining@mail.nih.gov

ASCENT 2026 Research Scholar Award
Opportunity to be posted on July 6, 2026

The ASCENT Research Scholar Award is ideal for junior faculty seeking to establish themselves as independent investigators in palliative care research. The award provides protected time, mentorship, and training to help scholars develop competitive research programs and transition to larger, extramurally funded grants.

ASCENT 2026 Pilot and Exploratory Studies Award
Opportunity to be posted on July 6, 2026

The ASCENT Pilot and Exploratory Studies Award is ideal for researchers seeking to build foundational evidence that can lead to larger, externally funded studies. Whether you're an early-career investigator transitioning from a K to an R award, or a mid-career researcher exploring new directions, the ASCENT Consortium provides the resources, mentorship, and community to help you succeed.

Geroscience Ambassadors Program
Deadline: July 7, 2026

The Geroscience Education and Training Network Collaborative (NIA/NIH R25AG091038) is soliciting applications from early and mid-career geroscientists with established research programs at US academic institutions to apply to the Geroscience Ambassadors Program to broaden participation in the Geroscience workforce.

IMPACT Collaboratory Pilot Grants Program
LOI Deadline: July 23, 2026

The IMPACT Collaboratory will fund up to three pilot ePCTs that are designed to demonstrate the feasibility and inform the design of a future full-scale ePCT for people living with dementia and their care partners. 

OAIC CC Multi-Center, Collaborative Pilot RFA
LOI Deadline: August 3, 2026

The purpose of the RFA is to encourage cross-center collaborations within the OAIC network by funding for Pilot and Exploratory studies that by their nature require meaningful contributions - of expertise, capabilities, and specimens participants - from 2 or more OAICs.

OAIC CC Small, Exploratory Pilot RFA
LOI Deadline: August 3, 2026

The Pepper OAIC Coordinating Center is seeking proposals to accelerate progress for clinical and translational research projects. These projects are intended to be small (<$7,500), efficient, and relatively short term to generate preliminary data for submission of collaborative extramural grant applications and/or high impact publications.

IMPACT Collaboratory: James L. Rudolph Career Development Award Program
Deadline: September 10, 2026

The IMPACT Collaboratory will fund up to two career development awards annually. These awards are designed to support the development of early-stage investigators (MD, PhD, or equivalent) whose long-term career goals are centered on conducting ePCTs to improve care for PLWD and their care partners. 

McKnight Clinical Translational Research Scholarship in Cognitive Aging
Deadline: September 10, 2026

The McKnight Brain Research Foundation will provide two 2-year scholarships of $65,000 per year, plus a $10,000 per year stipend to support education and research-related costs for early-career investigators pursuing studies relevant to age-related cognitive decline and memory loss.

Early Career Flexible, High Value Pilot RFA
Deadline: September 14, 2026

The Pepper OAIC Coordinating Center is seeking proposals for a type of application that allows maximal flexibility and creativity. In the 1-page applications, proposers will explain how their proposed use of the funds (up to $5,000) will help advance the applicant’s career and build cross-center collaboration.

Early Career Travel Exchange Program RFA
Deadline: September 14, 2026

The OAIC Coordinating Center is offering an inter-OAIC exchange opportunity in the coming year.  Career-development can be enhanced by the early development of collaborative, professional networks, and exposure to an array of conceptual viewpoints and operational methods beyond those available at a single institution.

2026 Awards Supported by the San Antonio Nathan Shock Center
Rolling Deadline

The San Antonio Nathan Shock Center is soliciting applications to support the research of any investigator who is developing a new project in the basic biology of aging. Awards will be made beginning September 1, 2026, but can be made at any time after that date. Applicants should contact core leaders as soon as possible in advance of that date.

Grant Opportunity Forecasted: Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging
Deadline: TBD

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to renew the Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists' Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) program. The GEMSSTAR program provides support for early-career physician-scientists trained in medical or surgical specialties and early-career dentist-scientists in launching careers as future leaders in aging- or geriatric-focused research. As such, the program seeks applicants who aspire to continue or shift their research focus to bridge their specialty/discipline and the clinical care of older adults. In support of the program's goal, this NOFO invites applications that propose to conduct transdisciplinary aging research that will yield pilot data and experience for subsequent aging research projects. 

Grant Opportunity Forecasted: Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists' Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR)
Deadline: TBD

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to renew the Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists' Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) program. The GEMSSTAR program provides support for early-career physician-scientists trained in medical or surgical specialties and early-career dentist-scientists in launching careers as future leaders in aging- or geriatric-focused research. As such, the program seeks applicants who aspire to continue or shift their research focus to bridge their specialty/discipline and the clinical care of older adults. In support of the program's goal, this NOFO invites applications that propose to conduct transdisciplinary aging research that will yield pilot data and experience for subsequent aging research projects. 

ClinicalTrials.gov: Essentials for Academic Medical Centers 
Virtual

This virtual training is designed to help staff at academic medical centers meet the federal requirements for registering clinical studies and reporting results on ClinicalTrials.gov. Specialists from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), Office of Clinical Policy (OCLP) and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will address frequently asked questions regarding regulatory obligations and the ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS). 

NIH Fifth Geroscience Summit: Revisiting the Geroscience Hypothesis: Focus on Health 
December 2-3, 2026 | Bethesda, MD & Virtual

Geroscience is a rapidly evolving field of research that aims to improve healthy lifespan by examining and targeting fundamental aging pathways to prevent, delay, or treat common age-associated conditions and diseases. Since 2012, the trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group (GSIG) has played an important role in advancing geroscience research, in part by hosting summits that explore the state-of-the-science. The fifth Geroscience Summit will be an opportunity to assess progress toward addressing the development and execution of geroscience-based clinical trials, treating multimorbidity with geroscience-based interventions, validating and utilizing biomarkers of aging in geroscience research, and facilitating more effective communication around geroscience across stakeholder groups. For more information, contact Siobhan Addie (siobhan.addie@nih.gov; 202-253-6015).

This communication is managed by the American Federation for Aging Research, which serves as the National Program Office for the Clin-STAR Coordinating Center. The Clin-STAR Coordinating Center is funded by the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging under award number U24AG065204. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funder.