Life Course Center for the Demography and Economics of Aging

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Project Summary/Abstract The Life Course Center (LCC) at the University of Minnesota is an emerging incubator for innovative research on the demography and economics of aging. As an NIA-supported University-wide cooperative, LCC will recruit and foster connections among researchers across disciplines; develop leading-edge collaborative pilot studies on aging contexts, trends, dynamics, and disparities; provide technical and administrative support for research development; and develop a research network to leverage large-scale population data to advance interdisciplinary scholarship on social determinants and contexts of aging and health. Over the next five years, we will focus on three research themes that are crucial to understanding the demography and economics of our aging society. These themes leverage our intellectual strengths and unique resources: (1) Later Life-Course Population Trends in Context: Determinants within and across space, time, and social location of population trends at older ages in physical and cognitive functioning (including AD/ADRD), disability, morbidity, mortality, health and well-being. (2) Life-Course Dynamics as Disparity Mechanisms: How life-course pathways foster disparities in healthy aging, including protective factors (e.g., social engagement and support, income adequacy, positive early determinants, and health behaviors). (3) Interrelationships of Work, Family, Community Participation, and Health: Consequences of later life work, family and community participation for health outcomes of older workers and retirees. We will establish three infrastructure cores to overcome key barriers to path-breaking research: Core A: Administrative and Research Support Core. This Core will provide leadership and vision, as well as logistical support and oversight for the activities of the other two Cores. This Core will also be responsible for meeting all reporting requirements to the Coordinating Center. Core B: Program Development Core. LCC will support small-scale, innovative interdisciplinary research projects. The Core will annually fund four to six outstanding pilot projects proposed by LCC members and from members of the External Innovative Network Core. The proposed pilot program will prioritize support of early career investigators as well as investigators from historically underrepresented groups. Core C: External Innovative Network Core. The Network will foster an interdisciplinary community of researchers focusing on the demography and economics of aging who will share knowledge and resources for using big population data and for applying a life-course perspective to aging research. The Network Core will address challenges associated with big population data, prospective longitudinal data based on record linkage, and restricted access data.