;The Wake Forest University (WFU) OAIC Coordinating Center Core (CCC) will facilitate and coordinate OAIC activities, and work closely with the OAIC Pis/Directors and the NIA program officers to provide administration for the overall OAIC program. Since 2005, the WFU CCC has turned these administrative functions into innovative activities that promote the development of OAIC faculty, multiply the power of OAIC research and resources by engaging the broader community of science, and foster use of OAICs as an integrated research network while maintaining the independence and strength of each center and its theme. Three key innovations in this proposal will advance the CCC to a new level of service benefitting all OAICs, NIA/NIH programs, and the larger aging/disability research community. 1) The OAIC Visiting Scholars Program (VSP) is supported by key leaders in aging research outside the OAICs who have agreed to co-fund scholars at the coordinating sites for the NIA Intramural program, the Women's Health Initiative Southeast Coordinating Center, and the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMARs). The OAIC VSP will provide research fellowships for junior faculty to spend extended periods (2-6 weeks) at the coordinating centers of these large, epidemiologic networks focused on aging and functional outcomes. 2) SCALE-UP OAIC is a unique program to accelerate translation of OAIC research. Many OAICs are particularly skilled in smaller, mechanistic studies, but those centers often lack expertise to """"""""scale up"""""""" intervention studies to the next steps in translation. That skill set, however, is well represented in the OAIC network at large and we propose mechanisms to facilitate the transition of small (n = 10-20 participants) mechanistic studies to larger proof-of-concept clinical studies. 3) Wide dissemination of OAIC advances through Annual Meeting Highlights and top OAIC abstracts published as an annual feature in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. In addition to these key innovations, the WFU CCC has demonstrated a unique capacity to foster collaborations among other OAICs and engage other research networks (e.g. Centers for AIDS Research) to substantially leverage OAIC resources bringing new dollars and shared infrastructure to aging and disability research. These efforts will continue during the renewal period with specific grant applications on behalf of the entire OAIC network, and ongoing technology development to support data sharing.
The Coordinating Center Core facilitates interactions and leverages resources that connect the 13 Pepper Centers around the nation. This function is essential to the rapid dissemination and implementation of research nationwide to maintain and improve the physical function and independence of older adults.
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