Mieke Thomeer McBride, Ph.D.The University of Alabama at Birmingham has joined two other universities to launch the Southern Population Aging Research Center supported by the National Institute on Aging.

SPARC is a first-of-its-kind collaboration focused on strengthening aging research infrastructure in the South, where older adults face higher rates of chronic disease and limited access to care.

Mieke Thomeer McBride, Ph.D., is one of the center’s co-directors, and David Warner, Ph.D., is a co-lead of the Program Development Core of SPARC. Both Thomeer McBride and Warner are professors of sociology at the UAB College of Arts and Sciences.

“Research matters only if it reaches the people who can do something with it,” Thomeer McBride said. “SPARC is about building those bridges — getting our work out of journals and into the hands of policymakers, supporters and communities.”

To support this mission, SPARC offers a range of programs for faculty and graduate students, including pilot funding, mentoring, grant-writing workshops and technical support. Signature initiatives include the Emerging Scholars Pilot Program, the SPARC Pathways summer workshop, a Hybrid Speaker Series and Virtual Grant Proposal Reviews.

SPARC’s first pilot projects are already underway, including UAB Assistant Professor Myles Moody, Ph.D., examining how vicarious exposure to differential treatment affects health among aging adults.

Partner universities are the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. To connect with SPARC, fill out this form.