The goal of the proposed Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Center (NSC3) is to enhance coordination and cooperation among the existing Nathan Shock Centers (NSCs) as well as enhance their leadership role and visibility in basic aging research. The NSCs themselves are tasked with strengthening research in the basic biology of aging, supporting new investigators, driving innovation, providing resources and intellectual leadership to the field. A successful NSC3 then will work in collaboration with the individual NSC leadership teams to leverage the strengths of the individual centers via shared activities to the benefit of all. The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is a national nonprofit organization ideally suited to become the NSC3. Advantages of AFAR as the NSC3 include: (1) it already has a highly experienced administrative structure in place that performs for other organizations most of the activities the NSC3 is proposed to do, such as administering grant programs (organizing the reviews, awarding, and tracking of grants, organizing meetings of all types, and performing education and outreach to the scientific and lay public; (2) AFAR has extensive active connections with researchers throughout the field as shown by its National Science Advisory Committee of over 340 researchers; (3) AFAR has more than 20 years? experience serving as a Coordinating Center with many similar responsibilities to 28 academic centers of excellence in geriatric medicine; (4) it has an active public communications staff already in place, and (5) because of AFAR?s connections with these geriatrics centers of excellence, there are opportunities for AFAR to facilitate synergies between the Shock Center basic investigators and more clinically-oriented investigators. AFAR will accomplish the functions of the proposed NSC3 by among other things: (1) building and maintaining an active NSC3 website linked to the existing AFAR website (www.afar.org) as well actively engaging in social media for regular announcements and updates, and using our existing communication and outreach capacity to develop an NSC media presence; (2) enhancing the leadership role of the NSCs by implementing for basic aging research the renewed NIH emphasis on research rigor, reproducibility, and transparency; (3) Providing logistical support for NSC pilot grant programs of the individual NSCs, and organizing meetings, webinars, and workshops; (4) Developing and implementing evaluation strategies for assessing the effectiveness and helping to guide future directions of the NSCs.
? Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Center The Coordinating Center will establish a system of coordination and communication between the Nathan Shock Centers, the National Institute on Aging, and the biology of aging research community that maximizes the Nathan Shock Centers? strengths, supporting integrated scientific research approaches that enhance the impact of those activities and broadcast their availability to the larger research community as well as to the general public. This will contribute to our understanding of the biology of aging, and accelerate innovations that will help us live longer, healthier.
