Research Education Component

PROJECT DESCRIPTION/ABSTRACT – RESEARCH EDUCATION COMPONENT The Research Education Component (REC) is a new addition to the NIA Alzheimer's Disease Research Cen- ter (ADRC) structure. The Mayo ADRC has been devoted to educating trainees and junior faculty in Alz- heimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) since 1990, and the REC will formal- ize the training experience with enhanced rigor and structure. There is an obvious need to train the next gen- eration of clinicians and investigators to address the complexities of AD/ADRD, including making a deliberate effort to attract underrepresented minority in medicine and biomedical research to pursue careers in AD/ADRD research. REC will be intentional to fully utilize our decades of multidisciplinary approach with expertise across the clinical and basic science elements of neurodegenerative disease. The goals of the Mayo ADRC Research Education Component are to expand the team of collaborative scientific leaders in research on AD/ADRD, op- timize methods for selecting, educating and mentoring trainees at multiple levels, and refine these methods over time. The ADRC REC will draw on the experience of Bradley Boeve MD, a behavioral neurologist who has led many educational efforts for clinical and clinical research training at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education and within the Mayo ADRC, and Pamela McLean PhD, a neurobiologist who has led the educational efforts for basic science research training as the Director of the Neurobiology of Disease PhD Pro- gram of Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (MCGSBS), as Program Directors of the Mayo REC. Each resides at one of the two complementary/overlapping sites of the Mayo ADRC in Rochester, Min- nesota, and Jacksonville, Florida. Together, they lead a faculty drawn from the ADRC core leaders and other Mayo researchers who are leaders in all facets of AD/ADRD research. The long history of education at Mayo Clinic, many resources within the Mayo Clinic enterprise, already established educational infrastructure and recently enhanced processes for fostering trainee/faculty development and mentorship coalesce to provide a solid platform for the REC.