The Population Studies Center (PSC) of the University of Pennsylvania plans to extend its program in the demography and economics of health and aging by establishing a new NIA Exploratory Demography Center (P20) specifically devoted to such research, the Population Aging Research Center (PARC). PSC research emphasizes three areas that will be the scientific themes of PARC: (i) intergenerational exchanges associated with population aging, (ii) aging in disadvantaged populations, and (iii) medical demography. Establishment of PARC will take advantage of substantial existing intellectual capital and experience to advance further and to foster research on issues of critical importance to understanding demographic and economic aspects of health and aging, to the development of policy responses to an aging population, and to the welfare of aging members of the population, their families, and others responsible for their well-being.
The specific aims of PARC include: 1. To provide general research supports so that the strong ongoing research can be further strengthened and expanded in the three areas of (i) intergenerational exchanges associated with population aging, (ii) aging in disadvantaged populations, and (iii) medical demography. 2. To provide support for exploratory research in the form of pilot projects, selected by competitive review, that will build upon PSC's existing internal research competition structure to encourage a flow of new research initiatives and R01 proposals related to the three basic scientific themes and related topics that may evolve in the future. 3. To establish an Administrative and Research Support Core for research in the demography and economics of health and aging with a Center Director and an Advisory Committee (including some members from outside of Penn) (i) to plan, coordinate, review and manage PARC's activities (including the selection and funding of pilot studies) and (ii) to provide equipment and information support services that offer general research support for studies in the demography and economics of health and aging. 4. To establish an External Innovative Network Core that encourage development of minority researchers through workshops and mentoring relationships. 5. To establish an External Resources Support and Dissemination Core that will (i) disseminate electronically information about new data sets and methodologies developed at PARC, (ii) develop and distribute a periodic newsletter and policy briefs with well-synthesized research results on the demography and economics of health and aging targeted to the Federal government, the scientific community and the policy-making community, and an annual report, and (iii) make available electronically the PARC scientific working papers on the demography and economics of health and aging.
