Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (P30 Clinical Trial Optional)
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PROJECT SUMMARY LAC The purpose of the Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC) is to provide the administrative infrastructure and scientific leadership necessary to achieve the overall aims of the UConn OAIC. The long-range goal of the LAC is to lead the way in establishing a highly productive research and education program at the University of Connecticut (UConn), spanning laboratory, clinical and community, and population-based science guided by the theme of Precision Gerontology. This goal will be addressed through 4 specific aims: (1) Provide OAIC leadership to ensure successful administration and integration of all OAIC activities. The LAC will coordinate activities of all administrative entities within the UConn OAIC, including the Steering Committee, the External Advisory Board, the Independent Review Panel and the Community Advisory Board. During monthly Steering Committee meetings, the LAC will monitor progress of all Cores and Components, and lead discussions about how to continuously develop collaborative research and education activities across Cores and Components. The LAC also will ensure timely submission of progress reports to the External Advisory Board and NIA; (2) Explore and assess opportunities for scientific progress aligned with emphasis on multidisciplinary team initiatives consistent with the UConn OAIC theme of Precision Gerontology and the OAIC mission. During monthly Steering Committee meetings, the LAC will facilitate ongoing discussion about how to promote development of UConn’s research portfolio consistent with the Precision Gerontology theme. The Steering Committee is a highly multidisciplinary group and represents the continuum of research from bench to bedside to population, ensuring a fertile environment for exploring and assessing opportunities for scientific progress; (3) Ensure full compliance with all regulatory requirements. The LAC will ensure that all studies supported by UConn OAIC funds meet all UConn and federal human subjects and animal protection compliance regulations before they are permitted to commence, and will monitor ongoing compliance of OAIC-supported studies with relevant regulations until they are completed; (4) Evaluate progress of OAIC Cores and Components to achieve UConn OAIC research and educational goals. The LAC will help design evaluation tools for all Cores and Components, compile evaluation results, and use evaluation results to continuously improve the UConn OAIC’s capacity to achieve its research and educational goals. By accomplishing these Aims, the LAC will provide the scientific leadership and administrative oversight necessary to promote and grow multidisciplinary geriatric and gerontological research at UConn related to the UConn OAIC theme of Precision Gerontology. The accumulation of knowledge through research related to Precision Gerontology will help contribute to improvement and restoration of independence of older adults.
PROJECT SUMMARY OVERALL This proposal seeks to establish the Claude D Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at UConn (UConn OAIC) with the overarching goal of developing clinical strategies for enhancing function and independence in older adults that are more precise, personalized, and effective. Our focus on Precision Gerontology has emerged through the collective experiences and insights of our multidisciplinary team of accomplished investigators in the UConn Center on Aging – all united by a shared commitment to improving the lives of older adults through research, education, and clinical care. Our emphasis on Precision Gerontology has been guided by three principles: 1. A growing heterogeneity or variability over time among individuals involving all aspects of aging that therefore necessitates a multidisciplinary team-based approach to aging research; 2. Increased heterogeneity or variability with aging in older adults’ responses to treatment, highlighting the need for better targeting; and 3. Recognition of a need to incorporate these considerations into the design and testing of novel geroscience-guided therapies. These objectives will be achieved by establishing a UConn OAIC through the coordinated activities of a Leadership and Administration Core (LAC), Recruitment and Community Engagement Core (RC1), Data Resource Core (RC2), Biomarker and Preclinical Research Core (RC3), Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC), and Research Education Component (REC). We will seek to address these goals through the following aims: Aim 1: To develop and refine new approaches to the study and clinical translation of Precision Gerontology. Aim 2: To develop and evaluate new research methods, techniques, and collaborative approaches required to advance the goals of Precision Gerontology. Aim 3: To identify, develop, and learn from experiences of the next generation of researchers poised to become leaders in geriatrics research related to the UConn OAIC focus. Aim 4: To select and support innovative pilot studies that show promise in helping to guide the design, funding, and completion of more definitive future research studies related to the UConn OAIC focus.
