This competitive renewal application for the Geriatric Leadership Academic award requests support to continue the expansion of research and education in geriatrics and gerontology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), under the direction of James S. Goodwin, who joined UTMB as head of the Geriatrics Division in the Department of Medicine and Director of the UTMB Center on Aging in July of 1992. The Geriatric Leadership Academic Award was funding starting 4/1/94. During the first two years considerable progress has been made, including a major expansion in geriatrics in the undergraduate and post graduate medical curriculum. The programs initiated during the first two years (registry of older subjects willing to participate in research, seed money program, summer student research fellowships.) have allowed several experienced basic and clinical investigators with expertise relevant to aging but with no prior experience in aging to address important gerontologic issues. The UTMB administration has rewarded these efforts by designating the Center on Aging a Sealy Center and doubling the yearly institutional support for Center on Aging programs. We now wish to build on this success by continuing the programs which have worked well over the first two years of funding. More importantly, we propose to initiate new programs to nurture gerontologic research in those schools and departments at UTMB that have as yet not substantially increased efforts in gerontologic research. Specifically, we will establish a consortium of nursing homes (15-18) nursing homes with approximately 2500 residents) which will serve as a basis for research in improving the health and quality of life of institutionalized men and women. We will work closely with faculty of the Schools of Nursing and Allied Health, as well as those in School of Medicine to stimulate the growth of long term care research. As before, we will exploit tri-ethnic nature of the Galvestron population to encourage research in minority aging
