This program aims to strengthen national capacity by developing a skilled community of investigators capable of conducting rigorous, practice-relevant research using real-world data to improve care for older adults. Its objectives are to:

• Build methodological expertise in real-world data research, with this funding cycle emphasizing measures relevant to nursing homes and assisted living communities using the LTC Data Cooperative.
• Enhance analytic proficiency in using electronic health record data, administrative, and health care claims to generate valid, practice-informed evidence
• Foster interdisciplinary collaboration by engaging scholars with mentors and peers across health services research, pharmacoepidemiology, geriatrics, data science, and health care delivery systems.
• Promote ethical and responsible research practices in the use of real-world data.
• Support career development and dissemination skills to enable scholars to communicate findings effectively.

This funding cycle is a collaborative initiative among the National Institute of Aging (NIA) IMPACT Collaboratory, NEXT STEPs Network and the Long-Term Care (LTC) Data Cooperative. Together, these NIA-funded national efforts aim to build capacity for rigorous, data-driven research to improve care for people living in nursing homes and assisted living communities, including people living with Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias. All projects funded under this opportunity will use data from the LTC Data Cooperative.

The IMPACT Collaboratory and NEXT STEPs Network will fund up to four Real World Data Scholar awards. Awards are for 12 months. Each award will provide $60,000 in total direct costs, and facilities & administrative (indirect) costs may not exceed 8% of total direct costs.

2025 Real Word Data Scholars Program

Eligible individuals include postdoctoral fellows, advanced graduate students, and early-career faculty at or up to the assistant professor level seeking to expand their expertise in working with EHR and other real-world data. Ideal candidates will have strong hands-on experience using large-scale administrative or clinical data (e.g., EHR data, Medicare claims or encounter data, Minimum Data Set, registry datasets). In this funding cycle, preference will be given to candidates with research experience in post-acute care, nursing home, or assisted living settings.

Candidates with backgrounds in health services research, pharmacoepidemiology, natural language processing, or clinical investigations are also encouraged to apply.

Applicants must be affiliated with academic or research institution based in the United States (US) and be US citizens, non-citizen nationals, or permanent residents at the time of application. No research may be conducted outside of the US.

This informational webinar provides investigators with an overview of application details.

Answers to frequently asked questions are forthcoming. For eligibility and research-related questions, email IMPACTcollaboratory@hsl.harvard.edu