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As we celebrate NIA’s 50th anniversary, we remain proud to lead NIA’s Office of Strategic Extramural Programs (OSEP) . Since OSEP’s inception, we have strived to be a powerful catalyst in entrepreneurial innovation and training and career development for the next 50 years of leaders and innovators in aging science. One of our top priorities is applying our team’s strong technical and policy expertise to coordinating career development and small business funding programs across NIA’s scientific divisions.
Offering training options across career stages
As part of our centralized and coordinated approach to NIA’s training, career development, and small business programs, OSEP identifies programmatic gaps at various career stages and builds impactful initiatives to address them. As we develop new programs and refine existing ones, we are guided by the fundamental principles of inclusivity and accessibility to meet the needs of trainees and support a biomedical workforce that represents diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Our commitment is reflected in several ways. For example:
- Understanding that a living wage for students is critical, NIA significantly increased the stipend and research expense allowances for Aging Research Dissertation Awards to Promote Diversity (R36)
- The Expanding Research in AD/ADRD Summer and Postbaccalaureate Programs (R25) illustrate NIA’s commitment to training, expanding, and diversifying a skilled interdisciplinary Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research workforce. These two programs provide early exposure to high-quality, hands-on research and educational experiences for students, teachers, and early-career investigators.
- OSEP staff work to proactively connect with current and potential trainees at
NIA_Training_%26amp%3B_Career_Development_Land.pdf (78.45 KB) (PDF, 78K) to help quickly identify programs that are best fits.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR)
As a complement to our training programs, OSEP harnesses the creative energy of our scientific community to help equip researchers with interdisciplinary skill sets that open entrepreneurial pathways and a variety of career options. The NIA Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI) program , which includes K01 , R25 , and SBIR/STTR grant mechanisms to build skill sets and facilitate transition into entrepreneurial careers, is just one example of this synergy between small business and training/career development.
Through its Start-Up Challenge and Accelerator program , NIA helps train talented biomedical entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds to bring their innovations to the marketplace. Through the NIA SBIR program, we annually support hundreds of startups developing innovations that will enhance the health and care of older adults. OSEP staff proactively identify both funding and resource gaps and develop initiatives, such as entrepreneurial development and company showcase programs, to address such gaps.
Our challenge finalists and SBIR/STTR awardees have reached exciting milestones, including winning pitch competitions, validating their ideas in the clinic and through health system pilots, raising venture funds, successful acquisitions, and commercializing NIA-funded innovations to enhance the health and care of older adults. Contact us to learn more about NIA’s entrepreneurial support programs and sign up for email updates .
Reach out with your needs
The OSEP team comes from unique backgrounds that we leverage in efforts to help NIA continue to meet its mission of improving the health and well-being of older adults. We remain dedicated to fostering innovation and nurturing the next generation of leaders in the aging research field and look forward to hearing from you to discuss how we might support both your scientific endeavors and your career advancement!
50th Anniversary Small Business Funding Training and Career Development 2024-05-15T00:00:00Z