Project Description:

Our project was a three-day meeting ("Statistical Methods, Developments, and Challenges in Geroscience") that brought together a multidisciplinary group of researchers, including geroscientists, statisticians, and methodologists. The goal was to foster collaboration and work toward solving research questions that challenge the field, ultimately to accelerate research into healthier, longer lives.

Potential Impact:

By strengthening the statistical foundations of aging research, the meeting will accelerate the translation of basic discoveries into clinical interventions that improve healthspan. The new ideas and collaborations formed within attendees and speakers will lead to more rigorous and innovative research.

Next Steps:

The meeting was a starting point. The next steps are the tangible outcomes from participants, including new interdisciplinary grant proposals, collaborative publications addressing key statistical issues, and lasting partnerships between researchers to advance the field. Ultimately, these outcomes will be facilitated by more meetings such as ours to bring researchers together to share and learn.

The importance/value of RCCN funding for this collaborative research:

RCCN funding was essential for the meeting's success. We were grateful to have received a small amount of funding from other sources, but without RCCN, we would not have been able to support the number of attendees that we had join. This was vital for enabling early-career researchers, students, and faculty from a wide range of institutions to attend, directly supporting our goal of fostering broad collaboration and mentorship in the field.