RCMAR Centers

The Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR), established in 1997 by the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging, aim to bridge the gap between successful minority aging and health disparities. 

Currently, there are 18 RCMAR Centers nationwide, and a RCMAR Coordinating Center at UCLA. 

RCMAR Centers are designed to:

  1. Enhance the diversity of the aging research workforce by mentoring promising scientists from under-represented groups for sustained careers in aging research in priority areas of social, behavioral, and economic research on aging.
  2. Develop infrastructure to promote advances in these areas while simultaneously increasing the number of researchers focused on health disparities and the health and well-being of minority elders.

The program supports research at multiple levels from genetics to cross-national comparative research, and at stages from basic through translational, with the goal to improve the health, well-being, function, and independence of older Americans. RCMAR's encourage transdisciplinary social and behavioral science research on any theme addressed in the National Institute on Aging Strategic Plan. Consistent with the longstanding focus of the RCMAR program on minority aging research, Centers offer mentoring in health disparities and minority aging issues as a major component of their research education programs, thereby enhancing the potential impact of research supported by the program on all sectors of our aging society.

In 2018, support for the RCMAR program was expanded to support additional centers focused on priority areas of social and behavioral science related to Alzheimer’s disease. Learn more.

RCMAR is an initiative of the National Institutes on Aging.  More information is available at the RCMAR Central Coordinating Center's website. The Coordinating Center provides logistical support to the RCMAR Centers and oversees dissemination activities designed to reach the larger research and health professional communities, public policy makers, and consumers. The Coordinating Center is also the national clearinghouse for measurement tools, instruments, publications, community activity, pilot research, and other resources developed by RCMAR investigators.