This is an application for continuing support of the Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The overall goal of CDHA is to sustain and improve a major research and training program in the demography of health and aging. The institutional architecture of CDHA is designed to create links between social demography, biomedical and epidemiological research on health and aging. Major themes of ongoing and developmental research activities within CDHA include (1) Early and mid-life determinants of late-life health and well-being; (2) Socioeconomic and ethnic disparities of aging trajectories; (3) Comparative analysis of aging; (4) Economic and social aspects of aging, including wealth accumulation, retirement, labor force, transfers and late life events and behaviors; and (5) Biodemography, including data collection and analytical work with biomarkers, gene-environment interactions and the microbiome. CDHA is an autonomous research unit within the College of Letters and Science where it coexists with the Center for Demography and Ecology. It thus shares and extends a well-developed research infrastructure in administration, computing facilities data library, and GIS facilities. CDHA's administrative Core (A) provides leadership and administrative support for the Center as a whole, particularly for activities of Core B. The program development Core (B) supports faculty, staff, and research assistants engaged in innovative, high-risk pilot research projects that are likely to lead to major NIA support. The external innovative network Core (C) will continue a highly successful and popular, networked current awareness service for research in the demography of aging and support regular workshops, conferences, and visits. The external research resources Core (D) support the development of user-friendly tools for the preparation and analysis of large-scale public data resources in the demography of health and aging. The statistical data enclave Core (E) develops facilities for the analysis of sensitive data under secure conditions and will become integrated with a state-of-the art RDC facility that will be established on the UW-Madison campus.
Individual aging is the outcome of biological configuration and socioeconomic conditions and experiences. Aggregate population aging alters individual aging as it generates conditions that affect social organization, health services, and macro-economic change. CDHA helps to investigate these issues as an innovative and flexible provider of research products, training, and infrastructure for sharing scientific insights.
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