Resource Center for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Research in Asian and Pacific Americans (RCASIA)

RCASIA Overview:

RCASIA is funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and aims to generate sharable resources that support research on the diagnosis and care of Asian and Pacific Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). RCASIA also seeks to help train the next generation of Early-Stage Investigators (ESIs) in AD/ADRD-related Behavioral, Social, and Economic Research.

Important Terms:

• Early-Stage Investigators–A Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) who has completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award, as defined by NIH.
• R2 Designation–An “R2” designation, used by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, signifies a university as having “high research activity,” meaning it spends at least $5 million annually on research and development and awards at least 20 research doctorates each year.

Internship Purpose:

• ESIs may have limited experience and/or mentorship to help them build a robust application for AD/ADRD pilot research. To mitigate this gap, we have developed an internship model to increase exposure for ESIs to potential mentors at RCASIA parent and affiliated institutions. Priority will be given to ESIs from R2 institutions.
• At the start of each funded year, we will open the application process to ESIs from R2 institutions including: Rutgers-Newark, Rutgers-Camden, Montclair State University, CUNY campuses, and Rowan University.

Eligibility:

This internship is open to early-stage investigators at R2 Universities in NJ & NY who are doing

research in in Behavioral, Social, and Economic Research per:

• Current NIH/NIA policies
• Justification provided by the applicant and approved by NIA

Application Requirements:

• Proposal statement of 150 words or less describing career objectives and interest in Behavioral, Social, and Economic research related to AD/ADRD
  • Not responsive: Animal work, cell work, MRI analysis
• Letters of recommendation from two people familiar with their professional interests and scholarly achievements
• NIH Biosketch

Goals:

• Up to five ESIs will be selected as interns to rotate through:
  • Monthly Pod Meetings
  • Quarterly Team Meetings
  • Yearly Scientific Retreat
• Components will expose the selected ESIs to RCASIA faculty and AD/ADRD research projects and offer informal opportunities to discuss potential projects
• Interns can identify potential research mentors from a pool of established investigators

Intern Responsibilities:

• Attend all monthly meetings
• Submit quarterly progress reports to RCASIA Team. Report will include:
  • Brief reflection on experience
  • Updates on academic/scholarly achievements and/or products, including:
    • Publications (manuscripts in-progress, under review, commentaries, etc.)
    • Conference presentations (abstracts submitted)
    • Grant or award applications
    • Other recognition (awards, speaker invitations, faculty promotions, etc.)
  • By end of internship, identify and connect with potential mentors to submit a pilot application

Completed applications should be submitted via email to RCMAR@ifh.rutgers.edu

Application Deadline: September 30^th, 2025