Saturday, April 26, 2025
4/26/2025
Katies for Aging Research and Equity (KARE) - Project Summary The Katies for Aging Research and Equity (KARE) program at St. Catherine University is uniquely situated within a women-centered, minority-serving institution in St. Paul, Minnesota. As the only funded ADAR program in the upper midwest, the KARE program has established a successful track record of supporting MSTEM persistence among underrepresented women and gender diverse scholars from their first year at the University through graduation. To date, 100% of KARE graduates are on track toward careers in research along PhD, MD, MD/PhD or Masters degree pathways. Our innovative blend of holistic mentorship, interdisciplinary coursework, and two aging-related research experiences position each KARE Scholar to become a successful leader in the complementary fields of Geroscience and Gerojustice. Herein, the renewal request for the KARE program addresses the following specific aims: (1) optimize our supportive community for KARE Scholars, (2) increase the reach and rigor of Geroscience education, and (3) cultivate mentored Geroscience research through intramural and extramural research opportunities. Specifically, KARE Scholars are recruited in their first or second year in college and receive holistic support through community building activities, journal club opportunities, career development programming, academic and research mentorship, and networking events within the larger regional and national aging research community. In addition to their major program of study, scholars take courses within a cross-disciplinary Longevity and Aging minor to complement and contextualize their disciplinary studies with an aging lens. In alignment with the NIA’s Health Disparities Research Framework, KARE Scholars’ coursework focuses on the environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological factors that underlie age-related health disparities among diverse populations of older adults. Importantly, each KARE Scholar is engaged in aging-related research through multiple intramural and extramural research opportunities. Extramural research opportunities will be primarily cultivated within KARE partner locations including Mayo Clinic, HealthPartners Neuroscience Center, University of Minnesota- Twin Cities, and the Midwest Aging Consortium. Through these partnerships and mentored research with faculty experts within St. Catherine University, KARE Scholars have the opportunity to focus on biomedical, behavioral, or clinical projects within the field of Geroscience. Informed by the success and lessons learned in our first five years of funding, we are confident the renewed KARE program will train diverse scholars for successful research careers in aging.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).