Enhancing Participation in an Undergraduate Aging Research Training Program

Research teams addressing inequalities in aging benefit from diverse perspectives that can strengthen the scientific rigor of the research. We developed a mentored research program to encourage diversity in population health aging research. Our program, Advancing Health Equity and Diversity (AHEaD), focused on reducing barriers to application and enrollment. We received robust interest in the program, including nearly 4,500 applications over 5 years (2021-2025), and welcomed 45 participants. Participants positively evaluated the application process. We received outcomes data on 40/45 participants as of September 2025, and 35/40 participants (87.5%) had engaged in research/employment, or were in the process of applying or had matriculated in graduate school. In summary, strategies designed to enhance participation and lower barriers to application yielded a high interest in our AHEaD program, and this interest was linked to high engagement in further research, employment, and education in population aging research.