Cross-NIA Center Research: Early Results from Pilot Projects on the Health of Older Americans

Cross-NIA Center Research: Early Results from Pilot Projects on the Health of Older Americans

Sponsored by the Coordinating Center for the Centers of the Demography and Economics of Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Related Dementias

November 4, 2021, 10 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (EST)

Join Zoom meeting hosted by PRB:
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83782010290
Meeting ID: 837 8201 0290
Phone: 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
One tap mobile: +13017158592,83782010290# US (Washington DC)
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Agenda
10:00 Welcome

Amanda Sonnega, Director, Coordinating Center for the Centers of the Demography and Economics of Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Related Dementias

10:05 NIA Welcome TBA

10:10 Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) Remarks
Stephen Kritchevsky, Director, RCCN; Wake Forest School of Medicine, Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers

10:15 Maintaining Health Behavior Change in Older Adults
Jaime Hughes, Wake Forest School of Medicine, previously Duke University, Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging and Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAIC) with Janet Bettger, Duke University, Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging; Minakshi Raj, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, previously University of Michigan, Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging; and Susan L. Hughes, University of Illinois, Chicago, Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging.

10:45 Discussion

11:00 Examining Sex Differences in Pleiotropic Effects for Depression and              Cognition Using Gene Polygenic and Gene-Region Aggregation Techniques
Arianna Gard, University of Maryland, previously University of Michigan with Erin Ware, University of Michigan, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers and Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging; and Lauren Schmitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging.

11:30  Discussion

11:45   Conclusion

Background
The Demography and Economics of Aging Centers Program, now expanded to include Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Related Dementias (D&E Centers/D&E Centers on AD/ADRD), has contributed significantly to developing both innovative lines of research and the next generation of scholars in the field. New areas and new directions have emerged (such as population genetics and biomeasure collection within national population-based surveys), largely as a result of increasing cross-disciplinary collaborations encouraged by the Centers. This successful model represents multiple centers engaged in a range of research and infrastructure activities within thematic research areas. There is wide recognition within the NIA and in the field that the full promise of the center mechanism itself and, indeed, the pace of future scientific discovery in aging will depend on scholars continuing to bridge disciplinary divides.

The Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) was established “to catalyze cross-disciplinary research across the NIA Center Programs,” which include D&E Centers/D&E Centers on AD/ADRD, Edward R. Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging, the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, the Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Centers, the Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers. To promote cross-NIA Center research and support junior scholars, the RCCN funds pilot research awards. This meeting will feature two RCCN pilot projects that each include a research affiliate of one of the D&E Centers/D&E Centers on AD/ADRD in collaboration with researchers at other NIA Centers. Each team will present preliminary results of their pilot project and share insights on the opportunities and challenges of cross-disciplinary collaboration.