Boston OAIC: A Translational Approach to Function Promoting Therapies

波士顿老年美国人独立中心（Boston Older Americans Independence Center，简称OAIC）是一家 边界，以建立一个跨学科的研究网络之间的老龄化研究人员从波士顿的领先 学术中心，以促进功能促进疗法（FPT）的转化研究-药理学， 减轻残疾功能负担的身体、营养、技术和行为干预措施 局限性。在上一个供资周期，波士顿办公室信息中心建立了3个资源核心，并支持了17个 外部项目，9个试点项目，9个研究教育事业奖（REC）和4个发展项目。 这些投资直接促进了几位才华横溢的早期职业科学家的进步， 包括3名Beeson获奖者;提高研究创新和生产力，反映在高质量的同行中， 审查出版物;为OAIC资助的许多NIH创新项目提供研究核心支持 调查人员;使OAIC与其他波士顿地区老龄中心的合作得以实质性扩展 并与其他OAIC合作;并刺激了新技术，发明和专利。 在过去的一个周期中，OAIC的重心转移到哈佛附属的医疗中心， PI的迁移。随着几位哈佛老年病学家加入其领导层，波士顿OAIC 现在很好地与哈佛老年医学和老年学研究社区和计划，包括 其T32培训补助金，哈佛临床转化科学研究所，罗伊巴尔中心，新英格兰 老年医学研究临床教育中心和格伦基金会衰老生物学中心。 在下一个融资周期，波士顿OAIC将继续关注FPT及其定位 从机制阐明、临床前概念验证， 研究，生物标志物验证，流行病学调查，FPT的随机试验。OAIC的研究 该计划建立在四个核心的平台上：领导和行政核心（LAC），研究 教育核心（REC），试点和探索性研究核心（PESC）和资源核心（RC）。OAIC将 将19项外部资助的研究、REC、PESC和发展项目整合为一个有凝聚力的 由3个资源核心支持的跨学科计划：功能评估核心，临床前 发现核心，生物统计学和数据科学核心。REC将从一个巨大的， 在哈佛，塔夫茨大学和波士顿大学的人才库，并通过教学和指导研究计划培养他们。 OAIC的优势包括：1）专注于FPT; 2）拥有大量有才华的年轻调查员， 特别是医生科学家，包括3名比森学者; 3）强大的协作领导， 保持高的研究生产力和赠款资金; 4）强有力的机构支持; 5）成功的 开发知识产权; 5）支持FPT的几项开创性随机试验;以及6）它在以下方面的成功： 与其他波士顿地区老龄化研究计划和其他OAIC建立协同合作。

The Boston Older Americans Independence Center (Boston OAIC) has transcended the institutional boundaries to forge an interdisciplinary research network among aging researchers from Boston's leading academic centers to foster translational research in function promoting therapies (FPTs) – pharmacologic, physical, nutritional, technological and behavioral interventions that reduce the burden of disabling functional limitations. During its prior funding cycle, the Boston OAIC established 3 resource cores and supported 17 external projects, 9 pilot projects, 9 research education career (REC) awards, and 4 developmental projects. These investments contributed directly to the advancement of several highly talented early career scientists, including 3 Beeson awardees; enhanced research innovation and productivity, reflected in high quality peer- reviewed publications; provided research core support to many NIH-funded innovative projects by OAIC investigators; enabled substantial expansion of OAIC's collaborations with other Boston area aging centers and with other OAICs; and spurred new technologies, inventions, and patents. During the past cycle, the OAIC's center of gravity shifted to Harvard-affiliated medical centers due to the relocation of the PI. With the inclusion of several Harvard geriatricians in its leadership, the Boston OAIC is now well integrated with the Harvard Geriatrics and Gerontology research community and programs, including its T32 training grant, Harvard Clinical Translational Science Institute, the Roybal Center, The New England Geriatrics Research Clinical Education Center, and the Glenn Foundation Center for Biology of Aging. During the next funding cycle, the Boston OAIC will maintain its thematic focus on FPTs and its positioning across the entire spectrum of translational science from mechanism elucidation, preclinical proof-of-concept studies, biomarker validation, epidemiologic investigation to randomized trials of FPTs. The OAIC’s research program is founded on a platform of four cores: Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC), Research Education Core (REC), Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC), and Resource Cores (RC). The OAIC will integrate 19 externally-funded studies, and REC, PESC and developmental projects into a cohesive interdisciplinary program that is supported by 3 resource cores: Function Assessment Core, Preclinical Discovery Core, Biostatistics and Data Science Core. The REC will recruit the most promising stars from a vast reservoir of talent at Harvard, Tufts and BU, and train them through didactic and mentored research programs. The OAIC’s strengths include: 1) its focus on FPTs; 2) access to a large pool of talented young investigators, especially physician scientists, including 3 Beeson scholars; 3) strong collaborative leadership which has maintained high research productivity and grant funding; 4) strong institutional support; 5) success in developing intellectual property; 5) supporting several seminal randomized trials of FPTs; and 6) its success in forging synergistic collaborations with other Boston area aging research programs and with other OAICs.