Core C External Innovative Network Core: Institutional links between PGDA and foreign institutions provide a way for researchers to undertake international research and to work in collaboration with counterparts in other countries, fulfilling our goal of studying aging in a global context. We will strengthen and expand PGDA's institutional links with international collaborators to help researchers carry out field work related to the global demography of aging. Our proposed partners in the coming period will be: 1. International Institute for Population Sciences (MPS), Mumbai, India, 2. Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies (Africa Centre), Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, 3. MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt) of the University of the Witwatersrand, Bushbuckridge, South Africa, 4. Ifakara Health Institute (Ifakara), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 5. Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC), Navrongo, Ghana, and 6. INDEPTH Secretariat (INDEPTH), Accra, Ghana. We will encourage collaboration with the network by having representatives of each institution sit on our Advisory Committee (see Core A) and through participation by representatives of the collaborating institutions in PGDA workshops and conferences (see Core D). We plan the construction of joint aging-related research proposals between PGDA and our international collaborators, initially through plot studies and then larger research projects, particularly cohort studies and intervention studies. We will also promote the participation of minority researchers through targeted postdoctoral fellowships. This core will contribute to Aims 1, 2 and 3 of the Center, though its main focus will be Aim 3. Core C Specific Aims:
Aim 1. We will support research in the areas of our themes (see Overview). We will focus on supporting the development of large-scale initiatives that involve multidisciplinary teams, longitudinal aging studies, intervention studies, and research initiatives that are conceptually innovative.
Aim 2. We will train and develop young researchers. We will bring new researchers (including minorities) into the field and guide their development. We will support the development of junior faculty by encouraging pilot projects that lead to further research in our theme areas.
Aim 3. We will encourage the study of the economics and demography of aging in a global context using a network of field sites through our External Innovative Network.
The developing world has seen large gains in child health that have increased life expectancy. It has also seen a large decline in fertility, leading to a population that is skewed towards the elderly. This transition means that we are seeing a change in the burden of disease in developing countries away from infectious and childhood diseases and towards non-communicable diseases at older ages. While this transition is not yet complete, the shift in the burden of disease to older ages means there is a strong case for shifting our research emphasis likewise and our external network will help PGDA make this shift.
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