RCMAR National Coordinating Center February Newsletter

RCMAR NCC February Newsletter

February 26, 2025

2025 RCMAR Annual Meeting

Register now for the 2025 RCMAR Annual Meeting! The meeting will be April 22-24 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA.

There are in-person and virtual registration options available. The meeting will kick off with a reception at 6pm ET on April 22nd, and will end at 2pm ET on April 24. A full agenda will be shared closer to the meeting. Registration closes on March 14.

Book your hotel stay with the group rate! We recommend booking refundable tickets for your travel to the meeting. The Crystal Gateway Marriott allows for free cancellation up to 72 hours of your check-in time. The Crystal Gateway Marriott is one metro stop/3 minute drive from the DCA airport or a 45-minute drive from the IAD airport (1 hour and 30 minutes if taking the metro).

Book your hotel stay!

RCMAR Red Hot Research!

The RCMAR National Coordinating Center is pleased to announce the next Red Hot Research session is on Thursday, March 6th, 2025 from 1-2 pm ET. Red Hot Research uses an abbreviated presentation format for scientists to share their research through storytelling. Red Hot Research events each feature 5 presentations from RCMAR Scientists (current and alumni), RCMAR NCC MSI Fellows, and RCMAR Centers.

Sign up now to present in the next, or any future, Red Hot Research session! Presentations are open to RCMAR affiliates only. Click here to register to attend!

RCMAR Testimonial Videos

Are you a former RCMAR Scientist and would like to share your RCMAR journey? Or maybe you would like to share highlights from your Center and its impact on local communities? Or do you have someone in mind that you would like to recommend for our Testimonial Tuesday? Email us at rcmarncc@nullgeron.org to let us know that you would like to share how RCMAR impacted your career.

Watch now!

Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) Grant Opportunity

The Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) seeks to fund at least two collaborative pilot, planning or meeting grants supporting interdisciplinary research in cross cutting theme areas per grant cycle. Each award will provide up to $65,000 in direct costs. The proposals must include investigators affiliated with at least two different NIA Centers Programs (AITCs, Shock, Roybal, Older American Independence Centers (Pepper), Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, Centers for Demography and Economics of Aging, and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers).

Please note the RCCN Pilot Award RFA has recently been revised to allow for a wider variety of topics, including those not previously covered by an RCCN Workshop. We have also added a new letter of intent stage for applicants. Review the new RFA here. Please reach out to contact@nullrccn-aging.org with any questions.

The deadline to apply for this cycle is Tuesday, April 1 at 5pm ET. Instructions for how to submit an LOI are available here.

GSA Statement on Cuts to Critical Research Funding

In response to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcement of drastic grant cuts to administrative and facility costs, or indirect costs, the Gerontological Society of America, GSA, has released this statement urging NIH to rescind their decision. GSA is continuing to advocate on behalf of the field of aging and continues to partner with other professional membership organizations to prevent this policy from being implemented.

GSA Statement on NIH Funding

Stay updated and find the latest information at geron.org/advocacy.

Share Your Story with GSA

Complete this form to let GSA know how recent executive actions will impact you, your institution, and your community. Specific examples of the unintended consequences of these actions are powerful. GSA will use these stories to help advocate on behalf of the field.

Share your story

Follow us on Social Media

See the latest updates, help us celebrate accomplishments from those in the RCMAR community, and tag us so we can help share your news and updates on our social media channels:

Bluesky

From the Centers

Rio Grande Valley Alzheimer’s Resource Center for Minority Aging Research: Partnerships for Progress (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Alzheimer’s Disease [UTRGV AD] RCMAR)

The RGV ADRCMAR has successfully hosted their 2nd Annual Memory and Heart Connections Community Event! By combining both cultural events with interesting lectures, we were able to reach more than 250 community members in Brownsville, Texas! The core of our research is our community, and we want to empower them with the knowledge to make educated decisions about their health. This session covered topics such as genetics, lifestyle choices, and the power of physical spaces and their impacts of AD.

Shown on the upper right corner is Dr. Jesus Melgarejo, Y6 RCMAR Scholar who is currently trying to understand how social determinants of health impact vascular system regulation. Dr. Melgarejo has a deep desire to connect with the community he is serving and familiarizing himself to the issues and concerns often trouble our community.

During this year’s Memory and Heart Event, Dr. Melgarejo led the discussion, where the floor was opened to the public to ask their burning questions. Among the questions, the theme that seemed to intrigue our community members the most seemed to be the link between genes/gene environment and Alzheimer’s Disease!

Opportunities

Tenure Eligible Position, School of Health and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center – Georgetown University Medical Center

The Institute for Cancer and Aging REsearch (I-CARE) at Georgetown is pleased to announce a new posting for a cancer and aging tenure-line faculty position. This is a joint Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center-School of Health recruitment. The position targets funded researchers from broad disciplines and can be personalized for PhD and MD candidates. Apply here.

I-CARE will also have another open tenure-line recruitment in cancer and aging in 2025 focused on basic science, so please contact icare@nullgeorgetown.edu about that as well if you are interested in learning more.

What’s new on RCMAR Connect

Looking to Connect with your colleagues?

Be a part of the conversation! Follow the link here to find instructions on creating your account and start posting. If you need any further help, email rcmarncc@nullgeron.org.

Learn more!