The Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Training Program at UIC (ADRD-TP) is designed to be interdisciplinary, drawing on institutional expertise in four themes: Biological Mechanisms, Drug Discovery and Development, Clinical ADRD, and Biophysics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Science:

The aim of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Training Program (ADRD-TP) is to address the imperative need to support the training of exceptionally talented cohort of trainees engaged in interdisciplinary research, to enhance the understanding of the heterogeneity and multifactorial etiology of ADRD, and to bridge the current gaps in knowledge between basic research, drug development and therapy.

Overarching goals

The overarching goals of the ADRD-TP at UIC are:

1. To attract outstanding graduate students from a diverse range of disciplines, including computer science, bioengineering, neuroscience, chemistry and drug discovery, who have interest in ADRD.
2. Provide students with rigorous, comprehensive knowledge in the fundamental science of ADRD.
3. Train students in a multidisciplinary, holistic approach, to promote integrative, divergent thinking.
4. Create an environment that supports ethical awareness and appreciation for diversity.
5. Build a community of scientists embedded in an intellectually diverse interdisciplinary community of seeking new approaches and collaborations dedicated to a cure.
6. Promote the engagement of students in studies examining healthy aging and reducing risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia.

Funding

The ADRD-TP is funded by training grant (T32AG057468) from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

• Visit the National Institute on Aging website

Is this program for me?

The ADRD-TP supports graduate students who are or will be engaged in multidisciplinary research in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD).Each student should select a mentor and co-mentor with distinct expertise and demonstrate the multidisciplinary nature of their training program. To be training eligible, you must be a US citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of appointment.

What will I study?

The four major disciplines of ADRD are biological mechanisms, clinical ADRD, drug discovery and development, and biophysics, bioinformatics and computational science.

I am an incoming graduate student. Can I apply?

First-year students who have yet to choose a PhD mentor but are interested in the program, please send a biosketch and three letters of support to the Program Director, Prof. Orly Lazarov.