Interconnections among Cognition, Pain, and Physical Function in Aging.

项目摘要 这个应用程序是一个独立的科学家奖（K 02）从国家老龄化研究所。的 候选人，托马斯W。布福德是牛津大学医学系的副教授， 亚拉巴马对伯明翰。布福德博士迄今为止已经建立了强大的科学跟踪记录老化和 保持身体功能。他的长期目标是建立一个可持续的研究计划， 确定和制定治疗策略，以保持老年人的身体独立。 本申请的目的是为候选人提供必要的保护时间，以获得 知识和技能需要纳入两个相互关联的领域，认知健康和疼痛管理， 他现有的研究项目。这些区域代表了老龄化的两大流行病， 阿片类药物滥用和认知障碍，包括轻度认知障碍、阿尔茨海默氏症和其他痴呆症。 虽然这些领域被认为是老年人的高度优先事项，并与身体健康状况的下降有关， 功能，迄今为止很少有研究者将这些因素常规纳入前瞻性研究， 保护老年人的身体机能。获得这些领域的专门知识将提供 这位候选人对围绕保护人身独立的关键问题有着更微妙的看法。 奖励活动还将导致和扩大技能，最终有助于提高设计能力 并进行研究，能够对老年人的健康和生活质量产生有意义的影响 成年人了培训计划包括三个主要目标，即：1）获得新的知识和技能， 认知老化的评估与维持; 2）在评估中获得新的知识与技能 和治疗老年人的疼痛，和3）推进必要的指导和领导技能，以支持一个 可持续研究计划。研究计划旨在与培训计划相结合， 候选人有机会1）利用已建立的数据源，探索新的关系， 认知/疼痛和身体功能指标，以及2）参与前瞻性数据收集，以了解 在这些领域的实验室方法，并在这些领域产生新的数据。他的顾问团队包括 在认知（罗纳德拉扎尔，博士;弗吉尼亚瓦德利，博士）和疼痛（罗杰 Fillingim博士，Burel Goodin博士）在老龄化以及生物统计学（Gerald McGwin博士）和研究 领导力（Marcas Bamman博士）。这个优秀的团队将促进候选人的成功融入 这些新的概念与他现有的研究。此K 02奖励将为候选人提供受保护的时间， 扩大他的研究计划，这将提高他的研究的整体创造力和可持续性。 最终，这一进展预计将提高他的潜力，使其能够对该领域作出重大贡献。 健康的老龄化，并通过创造一种更跨学科的方法来改善未来学员的培训 融合了物理学、认知学和疼痛学的原理。

Project Summary This application is for an Independent Scientist Award (K02) from the National Institute on Aging. The candidate, Dr. Thomas W. Buford, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Buford has to date established a strong scientific track record in aging and the preservation of physical function. His long-term goal is to establish a sustainable research program focused on identifying and developing therapeutic strategies for the preserving physical independence among older adults. The objective of this application is to provide the candidate with the protected time necessary to acquire knowledge and skills needed to incorporate two inter-related areas, cognitive health and pain management, into his existing research program. These areas represent two major epidemics in aging including chronic opioid abuse and cognitive disorders including mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, and other dementias. While these areas are recognized as high-priorities for older adults and are associated with declining physical function, few investigators to date have routinely incorporated these factors into prospective studies concerning the preservation of physical function among older adults. Acquiring expertise in these areas will provide the candidate with a more nuanced view of the key issues surrounding the preservation of physical independence. Award activities will also lead to and expanded skillset, ultimately contributing to an improved ability to design and execute research studies capable of making meaningful impacts on the health and quality of life of older adults. The training plan includes three primary objectives which are to: 1) Acquire new knowledge and skills to the assessment and maintenance of cognition in aging, 2) acquire new knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of pain in older adults, and 3) advance mentoring and leadership skills necessary to support a sustainable research program. The research plan is designed to integrate with the training plan to provide the candidate with opportunities to 1) utilize established data sources to explore novel relationships between cognition/pain and indices of physical function, and 2) participate in prospective data collection to learn laboratory methods in these areas and generate novel data in these areas. His advisory team includes established, well-funded experts in both cognition (Ronald Lazar, PhD; Virginia Wadley, PhD) and pain (Roger Fillingim, PhD, Burel Goodin, PhD) in aging as well in biostatistics (Gerald McGwin, PhD) and research leadership (Marcas Bamman, PhD). This outstanding team will facilitate the candidate’s success in integrating these new concepts with his existing research. This K02 award will provide the candidate with protected time to expand his research program which will enhance the overall creativity and sustainability of his research. Ultimately this progress is expected to enhance his potential to make significant contributions to the field of healthy aging and to improve the training of future mentees by creating a more interdisciplinary approach incorporating principles from physical, cognitive, and pain sciences.