T32 Training Grant
T32 Training Grant
The NIH-funded T-32 program from the National Institute on Aging has provided support to trainees in the Epidemiology of Aging program for over 30 years, and was refunded to continue through 2026. The program provides support for 3 pre- and 2 post-doctoral trainees, with openings when slots become available. Training cycles typically begin in the fall term, to maintain alignment with course scheduling. Trainees are provided with 2-3 years of academic support and a stipend.
Elsa S. Strotmeyer, PhD, MPH, Director of the T-32 Epidemiology of Aging Training Grant Program, Co-Director of the Center for Aging and Population Health (CAPH), Leader of the Research Education Component (REC) for the University of Pittsburgh’s Claude D. Pepper Center, has expertise that focuses on metabolic-related conditions associated with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal declines in the etiology of fall injuries and mobility. The CAPH is an established Center of Excellence under the direction of internationally renowned Training Program Co-Director Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH, with expertise in the epidemiology of aging, longevity and disability. Dr. Jane A. Cauley, DrPH, Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Epidemiology, also serves as Co-Director of the Training Program, with expertise in women’s health and in establishing novel risk factors for several major diseases of aging including osteoporosis. The CAPH generates new solutions to optimize health in older adults through population-based epidemiologic and public health research, professional training in population research methods, and community outreach which emphasizes health promotion and disease prevention. The Epidemiology of Aging Training Program includes the following responsibilities and expectations:
- Independent Research
- Hands-on training of study operations in our state-of-the art Health Studies Research Center, and access to biorepositories for studies of biomarkers of heath/disease, proteomics, metabolomics, and molecular epidemiology
- Mentorship by experienced faculty in the field of Aging Epidemiology
- Career Development activities, including the Epidemiology of Aging Workshop
- Coursework including the Biology and Physiology of Aging, Epidemiology of Aging Methods, and Advanced Epidemiology of Aging
- Participation in Research Conferences and Seminars
- Responsible Research Conduct Training
- CAPH biostatistical support including form development, data management and data analysis
Candidates must meet the following eligibility requirements in order to be considered for the T32 Epidemiology of Aging Training Grant:
Pre-doctoral Trainee applicants must:
- Have US citizenship or have a permanent residency status
- Master of Public Health (MPH) or Master of Science (MS) degree from a CEPH accredited institution or program in public health
- Applicants who do not already have an MPH/MS are recommended to have successfully passed the preliminary exams for the Epidemiology doctoral program in order to be considered
Post-doctoral Fellow applicants must:
- Possess an MD, PhD in Epidemiology, or relevant doctorate
- Have US citizenship or have a permanent residency status
- Any post-doctoral candidates without an MS/MPH or doctoral degree in epidemiology must complete the application process to the GSPH Department of Epidemiology and be accepted to the MS or MPH program
View Requirements Documentation
Program Requirements:
Epidemiology of Aging Training Program Guide (PDF)
All trainees will undergo annual evaluations using the following Epidemiology of Aging Training Annual Evaluation Forms and Guidelines:
- T32 Progress Report and Annual Evaluation
- Checklist on Program Requirements
- GSPH CV Format (DOC)
- Center for Postdoctoral Affairs in the Health Sciences Required Forms:
Applications are being accepted for pre-doctoral positions and post-doctoral positions on a rolling basis depending on available openings for the Epidemiology of Aging T32 NIH Training Grant.
Pre-doctoral Position
Applications will be accepted in Summer 2025 for pre-doctoral position postdoctoral positions
Open Date: Available Summer 2025
Close Date: Until Positions are filled
To apply, eligible candidates should send the following items to Elsa S. Strotmeyer, PhD, MPH, Training Program Director, strotmeyere@edc.pitt.edu and Michelle Utz-Kiley, Project Coordinator, kileym@edc.pitt.edu.
- Cover Letter addressed to Dr. Elsa S. Strotmeyer describing in clear, concise language areas of interest, projects and/or specific faculty you would like to work with, what you as a trainee and the trainee program itself would gain from your appointment, and relevant experience in the epidemiology of aging
- Curriculum Vitae
Pitt Public Health considers the diversity of its students, faculty, and staff to be a strength and critical to its educational mission with a commitment to creating and fostering inclusive learning environments that value human dignity and equity and promote social justice.
T32 Post-doctoral Trainees
Name: Aarohee Fulay, PhD, MPH
Advisor: Elsa S. Strotmeyer, PhD, MPH
Undergraduate: BA in Biology (concentration in Human Nutrition) and Psychology, Cornell University
Graduate: MPH in Nutritional Sciences, PhD in Nutritional Sciences (Track: Nutritional Epidemiology), University of Michigan
Research and professional interests: The impact of food insecurity, food access, and nutrition on health outcomes in aging (e.g. muscle/bone mass, fall risk) and high-risk populations
Email: apf31@pitt.edu
Name: Keisha Lovence DNP, ACNP-BC, MSN, RN, BScN
Advisor: Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH
Undergraduate: B.S. Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Graduate: Master of Science in Nursing/Adult Acute & Critical Nurse Practitioner – Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education – Graduate Certificate in Gerontology – Doctor of Nursing Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
Research and professional interests: aging, cardiovascular epidemiology, and clinical research in cardiovascular health
Email: KEL358@pitt.edu
CAPH Post-doctoral Trainees
Name: Lauren S. Roe, MS
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Iva Miljkovic, MD, MPH
Undergraduate: BS, Exercise Science, Elon University
Graduate: MS, Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest University
Research and professional interests: Associations between 24-hour activity composition with falls and fractures, bone structure and microarchitecture, and skeletal muscle strength and power in older adults.
Email: Lauren.S.Roe@pitt.edu
T32 Pre-doctoral Trainees
Name: Ruel Beresford
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Iva Miljkovic, MD, MPH
Undergraduate: BS Biological Sciences, BS International Relations & Politics, Carnegie Mellon
Graduate: MPH, Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh
Research and professional interests: Interested in using Genomics, exposomics , and lipidomics to study adiposity and cardiometabolic aging in underrepresented populations.
Email: REB169@pitt.edu
Name: Emma Gay, MPH
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Nancy W. Glynn, PhD
Undergraduate: BS, Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
Research and professional interests: Molecular epidemiology, fatigability, aging, cancer
Email: el74@pitt.edu
Name: Nina Heilmann, MPH
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Elsa S. Strotmeyer, PhD, MPH
Undergraduate: BS, Public Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Graduate: MPH, Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Research and professional interests: Mobility, fall injury, life course interrelations of muscle and bone, healthy aging
Email: nheilmann@pitt.edu
CAPH Pre-doctoral Trainees
Name: Reagan Garcia, MPH
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Nancy W. Glynn, PhD
Undergraduate: BS in Exercise Science, Saginaw Valley State University, MI
Graduate: MPH in Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Research and professional interests: Physical activity, physical activity maintenance, and fatigability
Email: rem168@pitt.edu
Name: Theresa Gmelin, MSW MPH
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Nancy W. Glynn, PhD
Undergraduate: Monroe Community College, AA; BA English, Ithaca College
Graduate: MSW, Social Work University at Buffalo, the State University of New York; MPH, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
Research and professional interests: Perceived physical and mental fatigability in the aging disability pathway, including impaired physical and cognitive function, perceived hearing trouble in older adults, health education as an attention control in clinical trials
Email: thg15@pitt.edu
Name: Chen Hu, MS
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Elsa S. Strotmeyer, PhD, MPH
Undergraduate: BS, Statistics, East China Normal University
Graduate: MS, Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research and professional interests: Fall injury and fracture, neuroscience in aging, physical and cognitive function
Email: chh257@pitt.edu
Name: Hajin Jang, MPH
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Elsa S. Strotmeyer, PhD, MPH
Undergraduate: BA, Health Policy and Management, Statistics, Korea University
Graduate: MPH, Epidemiology, Korea University
Research and professional interests: Obesity and body composition, fall injury and fracture, cross-cohort data harmonization, healthy aging
Email: HAJ90@pitt.edu
Name: Namhyun Kim, PharmD, MS
Degree Program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Nancy W. Glynn, PhD, MPH
Undergraduate: PharmD in Pharmacy, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea
Graduate: MS in Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Research and professional interests: Physical Activity, Sleep, Nutrition, Fatigability
Email: nak264@pitt.edu
Name: Ziling Mao, MPH
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Samaneh Farsijani, PhD
Undergraduate: Bachelor’s, Administration of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Graduate: MPH, Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Research and professional interests: Nutritional epidemiology, Gut microbiome, Nutritional strategies (e.g., meal timing and patterns of food intake) and cardiometabolic health, Dietary approaches to promote healthy aging
Email: zim12@pitt.edu
Name: Shanshan Yao, MS
Degree program: PhD in Epidemiology
Advisor: Anne B Newman, MD, MPH
Undergraduate: MBBS in Preventive medicine, Peking University; BS in Applied Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Peking University
Graduate: MS in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University
Research and professional interests: Healthy aging and its related metabolites
Email: shanshanyao@pitt.edu
The Epidemiology of Aging Training Program represents collaboration between several major administrative units within the University of Pittsburgh. Training program faculty members were selected because of their expertise in aging, mentorship track record, active engagement in the training program through a collaborating role on the research projects and/or service on doctoral committees. Our core Primary and Collaborating faculty listed below focus their research activities in a number of programmatic areas, defined as two or more grants and investigators, led by a senior faculty member. Please refer to the descriptions on the faculty webpages for details.
Director
Elsa S. Strotmeyer, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Director, NIH/NIA T-32 Epidemiology of Aging Training Grant
Co-Director, Center for Aging and Population Health
Leader, Research Education Component (REC), University of Pittsburgh’s Claude D. Pepper Center
Co-Directors
Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH
Chair, Department of Epidemiology
Katherine M. Detre Endowed Chair, Population Health Sciences
Director, Center for Aging and Population Health
Co-Director, NIH/NIA T-32 Epidemiology of Aging Training Grant
Professor, Epidemiology, Medicine, and Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Jane A. Cauley, DrPH
Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology
Executive Vice Chair, Department of Epidemiology
Co-Director, Center for Aging and Population Health
Co-Director, NIH/NIA T-32 Epidemiology of Aging Training Grant
School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology
Maria Mori Brooks, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology
Co-Director, Epidemiology Data Center
Janet Catov, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Associate Professor, Epidemiology
Samar R. El Khoudary, PhD, MPH, BPharm, FAHA
Professor, Epidemiology
Vice Chair for Education, Epidemiology
Associate Professor, Clinical Translation and Science Institute
Associate Professor, Epidemiology
Tiffany L Gary-Webb, PhD, MHS
Provost Faculty Fellow
Nancy W. Glynn, PhD, FGSA, FACSM
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Director, Master’s Degree Programs
Director, Recruitment and Measurement Core of the Epidemiology of Aging Training Program
Co-Director, Center for Aging and Population Health
Iva Miljkovic, MD, PhD, FAHA
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program
Caterina Rosano, MD, MPH
Professor of Epidemiology
Vice Chair for Research, Department of Epidemiology
Andrea L. Rosso, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Clinical and Translational Science
Akira Sekikawa, MD, MPH, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology
Director, T32 Cardiovascular Epidemiology Training Program
Joe Zmuda, PhD
Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Human Genetics
Director, Heinz Nutrition Laboratory
Other Faculty
Tina Costacou, PhD
Associate Professor, Epidemiology
Director, Doctoral Program
Samaneh Farsijani, PhD
Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
Megan, Marron, PhD
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology
Rachel G Miller, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences
Steven M. Albert, PhD, MS
Professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences
Hallen Chair of Community Health and Social Justice
Department of Biostatistics
George C Tseng, ScD
Professor and Vice Chair for Research
Department of Biostatistics (primary appointment)
Department of Human Genetics
Department of Computational & Systems Biology
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Dr. Patricia Lynn Opresko, PhD
Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health
Professor, Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, School of Medicine
Co-leader, Genome Stability Program, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
www.opreskolab.com
Department of Human Genetics
John R Shaffer, PhD
Assistant Professor, Human Genetics
Vice-chair for Education, Human Genetics
Director, MS and PhD Programs, Human Genetics
Director of Graduate Studies, Human Genetics
Assistant Professor, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences
Department of Health Policy and Management
Julie M. Donohue, PhD
Professor and Chair, Health Policy and Management
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition
Bradley Nindl, PhD, FACSM
Vice Chair of Research, Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition
Professor and Director, Neuromuscular Research Laboratory (NMRL)
Department of Physical Therapy
Jennifer Brach, PhD, PT
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development, SHRS, and Professor
Professor of Epidemiology
Director, Pittsburgh Pepper Center
Sara R. Piva, PhD, PT
Vice Chair for Research and Professor, Dept. of Physical Therapy
Director, Physical Therapy Clinical and Translational Research Center
School of Medicine
Department of Medicine
Toren Finkel, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology
Nicholas Beckwith III and Dorothy B. Beckwith Chair in Translational Medicine
Director, Aging Institute of UPMC and Pitt
Daniel Forman, MD
Professor of Medicine
Chair, Section of Geriatric Cardiology
Director, Pitt Integrated Clinical and Geroscience Research Training Program
Linda F. Fried, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Chief, Peritoneal Dialysis, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System
Walid F. Gellad, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine with Tenure
Professor of Health Policy and Management
Director, Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing
Susan L. Greenspan, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director, Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Center
Director, Bone Health Program, Magee Women’s Hospital, UPMC
Erin E. Kershaw, MD
Chief, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Endowed Chair for Obesity and Diabetes Research
Associate Professor of Medicine
Kathleen M. McTigue, MD, MPH, MS
Professor of Medicine with Tenure
Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Clinical and Translational Science
Vice Chair for Real-World Evidence, Department of Medicine
Neelesh K. Nadkarni, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Associate Professor of Medicine and Neurology
Frederico G. S. Toledo, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director, Endocrinology Clinical Research Core, Translational Research Center
Department of Psychiatry
Daniel J Buysse, MD
Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Clinical and Translational Science
UPMC Endowed Chair in Sleep Medicine
Mary Ganguli, MD, MPH
Professor of Psychiatry
Professor of Epidemiology
Professor of Neurology
Alison E Hipwell, PhD, PsyD
Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology
Rebecca C Thurston, PhD
Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Women’s Health and Dementia
Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science
Professor of Epidemiology
Professor of Psychology
Department of Neurology
Oscar L. Lopez, MD
Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Clinical and Translational Sciences
Levidow – Pittsburgh Foundation Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
Chief, Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Division
Professor of Epidemiology
University of Pittsburgh
Center for Aging and Population Health
130 N Bellefield Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
