Research Network on Animal Models to Understand Social Dimensions of Aging

项目摘要 随着美国人口老龄化，预计老年病带来的健康负担 相伴地增加社会因素，包括社会经济地位低、社会孤立和社会地位低 支持，是最好的老龄化疾病易感性的预测指标之一，也是寿命本身的预测指标。 然而，关于因果关系和连接社会的生物机制的关键问题 健康和衰老的经历仍然没有答案。动物模型是解决这些问题的有力工具 问题。像人类一样，其他群居哺乳动物在社会逆境、健康、 和死亡率。然而，与人类不同的是，它们经历的环境不那么复杂，世代更短 时间，并且可以在受控环境中进行实验操作。 这项提议的目标是建立一个动物模型研究网络，以了解社会 老龄化的维度。通过支持跨学科交流和来自人类和 非人类动物研究人员，我们的目标是最大限度地发挥动物模型研究对理解 健康和老龄化的社会决定因素。研究网络是必不可少的，因为目前在这方面的研究 该领域分布在许多不同的学科，没有一套标准的会议或出版物 相关兴趣的研究人员重叠的场所，动物模型的进入门槛很高 工作。拟议的网络将通过支持科学会议和讲习班来克服这些挑战 这建立了跨学科的联系，并在所有职业水平的研究人员之间建立了联系。它还将招募新的， 通过提供试点项目支持、旅行奖学金和 由经验丰富的高级调查人员指导。作为这些活动的一部分，该网络将提供 对啮齿动物和非人灵长类动物模型研究和比较研究的培训 利用人类和动物的数据集。为了提高知名度，它将在以下会议上支持有针对性的研讨会 关于老龄化的社会层面的动物模型工作传统上并没有被展示出来。最后，它将 确定动物模型研究的优先领域，促进数据和方案的传播。这些活动 将有助于制定一个超越网络直接活动的研究议程。 因此，建议的网络将把一个弱连接的社区转变为一个自我维持的领域 研究人员有能力对老龄化的社会层面进行有影响力的研究。特殊领域 感兴趣的包括测试社会互动对健康的因果影响的模型；可以灵活使用的方法 在非人类动物和人类种群中部署；以及调查 减轻社会逆境代价的行为干预。这些领域的进步将直接 在老龄化过程中对人类健康和福祉的翻译应用。

Project Summary As the population of the United States ages, the health burden imposed by diseases of aging is expected to increase concomitantly. Social factors, including low socioeconomic status, social isolation, and low social support, are among the best predictors of susceptibility to diseases of aging, as well as lifespan itself. Nevertheless, key questions about the causal relationship and the biological mechanisms that link social experiences to health and aging remain unanswered. Animal models are a powerful tool to address these questions. Like humans, other social mammals exhibit strong associations between social adversity, health, and mortality. Unlike humans, though, they experience less complex environments, have shorter generation times, and can be subjected to experimental manipulation in controlled environments. The goal of this proposal is to build a Research Network on Animal Models to Understand Social Dimensions of Aging. By supporting interdisciplinary communication and pilot research from both human and nonhuman animal researchers, we aim to maximize the impact of animal model research on understanding the social determinants of health and aging. A Research Network is essential because current research in this area is distributed across many different disciplines, there is no standard set of conferences or publication venues where researchers with related interests overlap, and there are high barriers to entry for animal model work. The proposed network will overcome these challenges by supporting scientific meetings and workshops that build contacts across disciplines and among researchers at all career levels. It will also recruit new, diverse investigators into the field by providing opportunities for pilot project support, travel fellowships, and mentorship by experienced senior investigators. As part of these activities, the network will provide hands-on training for animal model research in rodents and nonhuman primates and for comparative research that leverages human and animal data sets. To build visibility, it will support targeted symposia at meetings where animal model work on the social dimensions of aging has not traditionally been represented. Finally, it will identify priority areas for animal model research and promote data and protocol dissemination. These activities will help set a research agenda that extends beyond the network’s immediate activities. Thus, the proposed network will transform a weakly connected community into a self-sustaining field of researchers equipped to conduct impactful research on the social dimensions of aging. Areas of particular interest include models to test the causal effects of social interactions on health; methods that can be flexibly deployed in both nonhuman animals and human populations; and research that investigates the benefits of behavioral interventions for alleviating the costs of social adversity. Advances in these areas will have direct translational application to human health and well-being during aging.