This is a competing renewal application for the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at the University of Michigan (UM Pepper Center).
The specific aims of the UM Pepper Center is: 1) to support research that will improve understanding of how metabolic factors and inflammation interact with age related diseases and comorbidities to determine key health outcomes related to mobility and functional status. 2) To support translational research on the interaction of metabolic factors and inflammation with age-related diseases and comorbidities to improve health outcomes related to mobility and functional status. To achieve this aim, the UM Pepper Center will work closely with other UM programs including the NIH funded Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR), the home of the UM's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). 3) To provide Resource Cores that support and assist investigator-initiated projects related to the UM Pepper Center's research focus. 4) Through its Research Career Development Core (RCDC), to strengthen the UM environment for training of future academic leaders in geriatrics and aging who can conduct research related to the UM Pepper Center's research focus. 5) Through its Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC), to attract UM junior faculty, as well as selected senior faculty not previously involved in aging research, to develop new research projects related to the UM Pepper Center's research focus. The UM Pepper Center, now in its 25th year of continuous NIA funding, has in place a well-established leadership and administrative structure, an RCDC, a PESC, and four RCs: the Human Subjects and Assessment Core (HSAC); the Biomechanics Core (BC); the Methodology, Data Management and Analysis Core (MDMAC); and the Core Facility for Aged Rodents(CFAR). The RCDC features three central elements: 1) a competitive program to select 2 promising UM junior faculty per year to conduct research relevant to the UM Pepper Center's research focus using the KL2mechanism to guarantee 75% effort for research career development; 2) a nationally recognized research training program for junior faculty engaged in such research, and 3) a Mentorship Program that enhances opportunities for junior faculty members to work closely with one or more UM senior investigators. The PESC, through rigorous external review, will fund 4 or more pilot projects per year. The RC's will support multiple externally funded projects, the Pepper Center pilot grants and RCDC junior faculty, and continue to develop and test new methods to be used in Pepper Center research.
Statement The current proposal will document the UM Pepper Center's outstanding environment for training of junior faculty in geriatrics research and for carrying out and supporting research on health problems of elderly people. The UM Pepper Center will emphasize its theme by conducting research that will improve understanding of how metabolic factors and inflammation interact with age-related diseases and comorbidities to determine key health outcomes related to mobility and functional status. OAIC Research Career Development Core (RCDC) training activities will help OAIC junior faculty participants apply basic findings to clinical investigation, explore mechanisms underlying clinical and epidemiological findings, and translate basic and clinical findings to a broader older adult community. To this end, the RCDC will help link training of the next generation of investigators to the overall UM Pepper Center focus of how metabolic factors and inflammation interact with age-related diseases and comorbidities to determine key health outcomes related to mobility and functional status. The Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core will generate high quality innovative pilot research related to the impact of metabolic and inflammatory mediators on aging, function and health outcomes. The OAIC Biomechanics Core will assist and train investigators in the conduct of new and expanded research on how metabolic disease and inflammation interact with age-related disease to determine key health outcomes related to mobility and functional status, the biomechanics of aging. The Biomechanics Core will also contribute to the training of geriatric physicians and other clinicians in the biomechanics relevant to impaired mobility, falls and fall-related injuries, urinary incontinence and prolapse in elderly people. The OAIC Core Facility for Aged Rodents will develop new varieties of mice that provide insight into the causes and possible treatments of late-life human diseases to help improve clinical care of elderly people and suggest ways to prevent illness in this population. Aging-associated chronic low grade inflammation and metabolic changes are understood to result in increased susceptibility to disease, disability and loss of independence. Despite breathtaking advances in biogerontology, these findings have not been translated to clinical interventions to improve health. The OAIC Human Subjects and Assessment Core (HSAC) will provide the infrastructure and `know how' to accelerate development and translation of basic research to prevent, delay, and treat age-related disabilities and diseases. The HSAC will be a critical resource for junior investigators engaging in clinical aging research, and provide animal bench researchers the support they need to engage in human work. The OAIC Methodology, Data Management and Analysis Core will provide methodological, data management, and analytical support to OAIC affiliated investigators to conduct effective, successful and scientifically rigorous research studies.
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