The Glenn Foundation for Medical Research (GFMR), in partnership with the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), created the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research to encourage and further the careers of postdoctoral fellows who are conducting research in the basic biology of aging, as well as translating advances in basic research from the laboratory to the clinic. The award is intended to provide significant research and training support to permit these postdoctoral fellows to become established in the field of aging.
The GFMR Postdoctoral Fellowship program supports research projects concerned with understanding the basic mechanisms of aging as well as projects that have direct relevance to human aging if they show the potential to lead to clinically relevant strategies that address human aging and healthspan. Projects investigating age-related diseases will be considered, but only if approached from the point of view of how basic aging processes may lead to these outcomes. Projects concerning mechanisms underlying common geriatric functional disorders such as frailty will also be considered. Projects that are strictly clinical in nature such as the diagnosis and treatment of disease, health outcomes, or the social context of aging are not eligible.
- LOI deadline: January 27, 2026
- Results of LOI review: Early April 2026
- Deadline for full application: Late May 2026
- The applicant must be a postdoctoral fellow (MD and/or PhD degree or equivalent) by the deadline date of the LOI submission, January 27, 2026.
- The proposed research must be conducted at a qualified not-for-profit setting in the United States.
- Individuals who are employees in the NIH Intramural program are not eligible.
- Postdoctoral fellows in laboratories that receive support as part of a Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research are not eligible to apply.
- Applicants who have received more than 5 years of postdoctoral training at the time of the start of the award must provide a justification for the additional training period.
- Former GFMR postdoctoral fellowship awardees are not eligible to apply, but may be eligible to apply for GFMR postdoctoral fellowship Continuation Awards
- Fellows may not hold any concurrent funding for the same research project.
It is anticipated that up to 12 one-year grants will be awarded in 2026. The grant is $80,000, of which a minimum of $62,652 (*see note below) is to be used for salary and the remainder to be used for allowable expenses (research supplies, equipment, health insurance, travel to scientific meetings where the Fellow is presenting his/her biology of aging research, and relevant research and educational training). Funds for indirect costs or overhead are not allowed.
* The applicant’s salary/stipend must equal or exceed NIH pay scale for postdoctoral fellowships, appropriate to the level of training, https://www.niaid.nih.gov/grants-contracts/salary-cap-stipends. Thus, if the NIH stipend minimum for the corresponding level of experience exceeds $62,652, additional award funds may be taken as salary to meet the NIH standard.