The Wake Forest Older Americans Independence Center (WF OAIC) has been funded since 1992 and has developed and tested interventions to improve physical function and prevent disability. Our translational perspective integrates medicine, behavioral and cognitive science, biostatistics, muscle and adipose tissue biology, geroscience, genomics, state-of-the-art imaging, and preclinical, clinical and population approaches. Based on our theme, Integrating pathways affecting physical function for new approaches to disability treatment and prevention, the WF OAIC will pursue four programmatic aims: 1. Discover new common pathways contributing to age-related declines in physical function and disability; 2. Develop, evaluate, and refine strategies for disability treatment and prevention; 3. Translate proven strategies beyond the traditional academic research environment; 4. Train the next generation of research leaders focused on disability treatment and prevention.
The aims will be pursued by integrating the efforts of 4 highly productive research support cores: the Clinical Research Core; Biostatistics and Research Information Systems Core; Integrative Biology Core; and BioImaging Resource Core. Under the continuing and dedicated leadership of Drs. Kritchevsky and Kitzman, the Leadership and Administrative Core will coordinate these research core activities with those of the Research Education Component and the Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core. The WF OAIC will use its core structure and highly integrated approach to: 1) Translate measures and approaches from the biology of aging for disability prevention; 2) Incorporate new pathways important to functional decline, including brain-mediated ones, into our integrated model for intervention development; 3) Develop and test innovative approaches to optimize body composition and function in older adults; 4) Translate OAIC approaches into clinical and community settings; and 5) Provide mentoring and support for the next generation translational research leaders focused on disability treatment and prevention in older Americans.
In anticipation of the needs of the growing number of older adults, the WF OAIC will identify and evaluate novel strategies to prevent physical disability and return disabled older adults to independence, using its highly integrated translational research and training infrastructure.
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