AGING AND CANCER PROGRAM

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DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Description) We propose to establish the "Aging and Cancer Program" within the University of Wisconsin-Madison Comprehensive Cancer Center (UWCCC). We are uniquely positioned to do so as this application rests on the strong foundation provided by a large, growing and diverse aging research program that will interact productively with the investigators and resources of the UWCCC. Studies on sociological, psychological, health services and biomedical aspects of aging have long been pursued at the UW-Madison and are vigorously expanding as evidenced by an impressive portfolio of NIA grant support. These studies are incredibly diverse and include NIA support for three Program Projects: two large, long-term, longitudinal population-based studies ("Wisconsin Longitudinal Study" and "Integrative Pathways to Health and Illness- MIDUS"), and "Dietary Restriction in Rhesus Monkeys". Aging research is also supported by strong units including the UW's Institute on Aging, the Department of Medicine's Section of Geriatrics and Gerontology, and the VA GRECC. Additional important support is derived from other NIH-funded Centers including those for the Study of Mind-Body Interaction (NIMH) and Demography of Health and Aging (NIA) and the Wisconsin Interdisciplinary Molecular Imaging Center (NCI). The existing links between the UW aging community and the UWCCC, while not entirely absent, are largely biomedical. However, we have powerful scientific strengths in both aging and cancer such that we could not be better positioned to create and build synergies between these two areas. Further, past barriers to such collaboration no longer exist and significant institutional support for building this new program has been committed. Accordingly, under the leadership of Richard Weindruch, Ph.D., a gerontologist who has long investigated spontaneous late-life cancers in rodent models, we have formed a group of cancer biologists, gerontologists, oncologists, geriatricians and population scientists to address five thematic areas: Patterns of Care (Maureen Smith, MD, PhD, MPH [Leader], Gary Shapiro, MD [Co-Leader]); Effects of Comorbidity (Sanjay Asthana, MD, James Stewart, MD); Psychosocial Issues (Susan Heidrich, PhD, Carol Ryff, PhD); Palliative Care (James Cleary, MD, Elizabeth Kramer, PhD); and Biology of Aging and Cancer (Richard Weindruch, PhD, David Jarrard, MD). We view the creation of this Program and the research it will nurture to be vital in view of demographic realities and opportunities to address critical knowledge gaps.