Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at the University of Michigan (UM Pepper Center)
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In this competitive renewal application, the University of Michigan Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (UM Pepper Center) seeks to provide scientific leadership and innovation for aging research to address the central hypothesis that targeting metabolic and inflammatory factors as critical mediators of geriatric conditions and outcomes improves physical and cognitive functions of older adults. The overarching goal of the UM Pepper Center is to create, enhance and maintain a cohesive intellectual, technological, and administrative environment to maximize geriatrics research that will promote health and functional independence in older adults. The UM Pepper Center will pursue its objectives in four Aims. Aim 1) To support the UM Pepper Center’s Research Framework inbroad aging populations through basic, clinical, and translational research on how enhanced understanding of the interactions of metabolic factors, infections, and inflammation with age-related diseases and comorbidities can lead to interventions that improve physical and cognitive functioning as well as key health outcomes such as better mobility, independence, and optimal quality of life. Aim 2) To support the UM Pepper Center’s research focus by collaborating closely with other NIA funded Centers and major program grants at UM. Aim 3) To provide Resource Cores that assist investigator-initiated projects related to the UM Pepper Center’s research focus, with a special emphasis on underserved communities across the State of Michigan through expanded activities of the Recruitment, Retention, and Community Engagement Core (RRCEC). Aim 4) Through its Research Education Core (REC) and the Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC), to strengthen the UM environment to attract and train future academic leaders in geriatrics and aging who can advance aging research related to the UM Pepper Center’s areas of focus. The UM Pepper Center has in place a well-established leadership and administrative structure, a REC, a PESC, and four RCs: the RRCEC; the Biomechanics Core (BC); the Design, Data and Biostatistics Core (DDBC); and the Core Facility for Aged Rodents (CFAR). The REC features three central elements: 1) a competitive program to select 2 promising junior faculty per year to conduct research relevant to the UM Pepper Center’s focus and guarantee 50% 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 will fund 4 or more pilot projects per year by leveraging UM Pepper Center funding with multiple other UM institutional resources. The RC’s will support multiple externally funded projects, the UM Pepper Center pilot grants and REC junior faculty, and continue to develop and test new methods to be used in UM Pepper Center research.
The goal of the Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC) is to provide support for studies that will develop and test new research ideas of high relevance to the Center’s overall theme: improve understanding of how metabolic factors, infections, and inflammation interact with age-related diseases and comorbidities to determine key health outcomes related to mobility and functional status. The PESC will thus fund pilot research studies over a wide range of disciplines, from basic, pre-clinical, clinical patient-oriented research through behavioral and health outcomes research. In order to receive high quality applications from a large pool of applicants, a campus-wide formal announcement is made annually through UM electronic newsletters and the UM Pepper Center e-mail listserv. We continually expand our distribution to ensure it reaches new and emerging research centers and initiatives across the campus. The awardees may have appointments at UM Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses as well as at neighboring institutions, such as Wayne State and Michigan State Universities. After a review of the Letter of Intent by the UM Pepper Center leadership, select participants are invited to submit a full pilot grant proposal. These are sent for external review from experts at other academic institutions. Select pilot grants are considered for co-funding by other aging focused centers at UM. We receive 10-11 applications on average each year and we fund between 4-8 meritorious applications every year. The PESC has made 187 pilot grants since its inception in 1989, mostly to early career investigators, many of whom have now established themselves as productive independent researchers in geriatric medicine and cognate disciplines. Four projects have been selected for 2025-2026 (Year 1 of the competing renewal), including: 1) Temporal Role of Inflammation in Huntington Disease; 2) Phenotyping Urinary Incontinence using Novel Diagnostic Methods; 3) Transitional Epithelial Regulation of Macrophage Metabolism and Differentiation in Pulmonary Fibrosis; 4) Investigating the Role of Cellular Senescence in HFpEF Pathophysiology. The PESC will be led by Drs. Lona Mody and Mary Janevic. They will work closely with the Research Education Core (REC) and all the Resource Cores (RCs) to support implementation of innovative and promising projects proposed by early career investigators increasing the likelihood that projects will lead to externally supported research in aging.
The overarching goal of the UM Pepper Center Research Education Core (REC) is to recruit, select, support, mentor, and train early career faculty to become independent investigators in aging-related research and academic leaders in geriatrics and gerontology within their respective disciplines. A key objective is to train the next generation of investigators regarding the UM Pepper Center focus which is to improve understanding of how metabolic factors, infections, and inflammation interact with age-related diseases and comorbidities to determine key health outcomes related to mobility and functional status across populations. The REC continues to draw from a substantial pool of UM early career faculty from a wide range of disciplines across the UM campus who are doing research relevant to the UM Pepper Center focus to participate in the proposed REC training activities. Leadership of the REC will include Dr. Neil Alexander who will continue to serve as REC Leader and Co-Leaders Dr. Karvonen-Gutierrez and Dr. Min. Aim 1: Recruit, select, and train REC Scholars. We will support four promising REC Scholars per year of this award. A continued key priority and focus for the REC is to provide salary-support for a variety of REC scholars (e.g., clinical and PhDs) working on projects related to the UM Pepper Center focus. We will work with RRCEC to support REC scholars in leveraging existing resources to conduct research among older adults. Aim 2: Provide career development enhancement for REC Scholars and other UM early career faculty. REC activities will include sponsorship and expansion of key programs: 1) the REC seminar program with sessions regarding aging research, leadership, and career development; 2) the REC annual mock NIH study section research retreat; and 3) the annual UM Geriatrics Center-wide research symposium. We will continue to expand our collaborations with the NIA-funded Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center (MADC) and the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) which provides opportunities to participate in the mock study section and training on education and mentoring, respectively. The REC will guide the identification of the REC scholar mentorship teams and help finalize career development plans. Aim 3: Evaluate REC Scholar progress and mentorship. REC funded scholars will participate in ongoing evaluations leveraging Scholar, mentors and REC leadership meetings. The evaluation plan centers on a tailored career development and mentorship plan, including discrete elements (writing, presentations, grant writing) directed to each Scholar’s needs. The REC leadership will monitor publications and grant proposal output every six months, using the customized plan as the benchmark for progress. Evaluations will also include an examination of the mentor and mentee interactions. First year scholar evaluations will be reviewed by the REC Advisory Committee (REC-AC) to ensure sufficient progress for a second year of funding.
