Research Network on Animal Models to Understand Social Dimensions of Aging

项目摘要 随着美国人口的老龄化，老龄化疾病带来的健康负担是预料之中的。 同时增加。社会因素，包括社会经济地位低，社会孤立， 支持，是对衰老疾病易感性的最佳预测因素，以及寿命本身。 然而，关于因果关系和生物学机制的关键问题， 健康和衰老的经验仍然没有答案。动物模型是解决这些问题的有力工具 问题.像人类一样，其他社会性哺乳动物在社会逆境、健康、 and mortality.与人类不同的是，它们经历的环境不那么复杂， 时间，并可以在受控环境中进行实验操作。 该提案的目标是建立一个动物模型研究网络，以了解社会 老化的尺寸。通过支持跨学科的沟通和试点研究，从人类和 非人类动物研究人员，我们的目标是最大限度地提高动物模型研究的影响， 健康和老龄化的社会决定因素。一个研究网络是必不可少的，因为目前的研究在这方面 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 有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克服这些挑战 建立跨学科和所有职业水平的研究人员之间的联系。它还将招募新的， 通过提供试点项目支持、旅行奖学金等机会， 由经验丰富的资深调查员指导。作为这些活动的一部分，该网络将提供 培训啮齿动物和非人灵长类动物模型研究和比较研究， 利用人类和动物的数据集。为了提高知名度，它将支持在会议上举办有针对性的专题讨论会， 关于老龄化的社会层面的动物模型工作传统上没有得到代表。最后将 确定动物模型研究的优先领域，并促进数据和方案的传播。这些活动 将有助于制定一个研究议程，扩展到网络的直接活动之外。 因此，拟议中的网络将把一个弱连接的社区变成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。特别领域 感兴趣的包括测试社会互动对健康的因果影响的模型;可以灵活地 在非人类动物和人类群体中部署;以及研究 行为干预，以减轻社会逆境的成本。这些领域的进展将直接影响 转化应用于人类健康和衰老期间的福祉。

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.