Harvard Older Americans Independence Center Grant

描述（由申请人提供）：这是我们申请更新哈佛美国老年人独立中心（OAIC）的第二次修订，该中心之前由P60机制资助15年。在过去的资助周期中，我们的研究显示了心血管危险因素、大脑和全身微血管疾病的发展以及老年人认知和身体功能受损的最终发展之间的重要关系。在这些观察的基础上，我们的更新将集中在血管在与年龄相关的功能丧失中的作用。新哈佛OAIC的总体目标是加强和扩大我们在血管医学和老年学领域的专业知识、科学资源和转化研究，以增强我们对血管在与年龄相关的身体和认知功能衰退中的作用的理解，设计新的干预措施来改善这种衰退，并培训新的研究人员成为这一重要研究领域的熟练人员。为了实现这一目标，我们提出了一个由博士领导的研究职业发展核心（RCDC）。爱德华·马尔坎托尼奥和默里·米特尔曼；一个试点/探索性研究核心（PESC）由博士领导。道格拉斯·基尔和安东尼·罗森茨威格；领导和管理核心（LAC）由博士领导。刘易斯·利普西茨和彼得·厄特根；3个资源核心，包括：1)临床研究和招聘，由Lewis Lipsitz博士领导；2)高级统计和心理测量学博士领导。理查德·琼斯和阿德里安娜·卡普尔斯；3)由Vera Novak博士领导的生理测量和生物标志物。对于RCDC， PESC和LAC，我们创建了领导组合，他们将血管生物学，衰老方面的专业知识带入我们的OAIC。Dr. Lipsitz医学教授和哈佛OAIC的创始成员，将继续担任首席研究员。经过正式的征求和审查过程，我们选择了3个RCD项目、3个试点项目、2个小型试点项目和12个外部项目作为支持。这些都与我们的主题密切相关，具有很强的未来融资潜力，可以解决我们概念模型中的知识缺口，并为我们的Pepper中心带来内皮前体细胞生物学、脂肪因子和肥胖研究、视网膜血管图像分析、内皮功能测量、肾素血管紧张素生理学、蛋白质组学、信息学和动态心血管信号非线性分析方面的新专业知识。哈佛大学OAIC将召集教职员工进行研究研讨会、文化能力培训和科学晚餐，并将促进致力于血管衰老转化研究的多元化新科学家群体的职业发展。我们坚定的制度承诺，优秀的教师，广泛的资源，有才华的学员和初级教师的管道将有助于确保我们实现我们的目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is the second revision of our application to renew the Harvard Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC), which was previously funded by a P60 mechanism for 15 years. Over the past funding cycle our research has shown important relationships between cardiovascular risk factors, the development of cerebral and systemic microvascular disease, and the ultimate development of impaired cognitive and physical functions in older adults. Building on these observations, our renewal will focus on the vascular role In age related functional loss. The overarching goal of the new Harvard OAIC is to strengthen and expand our expertise, scientific resources, and translational research at the interface of vascular medicine and gerontology in order to enhance our understanding of the vascular role in age-related physical and cognitive functional decline, design new interventions to ameliorate this decline, and train new investigators to become skilled in this important area of research. To achieve this goal we are proposing a Research Career Development Core (RCDC) led by Drs. Edward Marcantonio and Murray Mittleman; a Pilot/Exploratory Studies Core (PESC) led by Drs. Douglas Kiel and Anthony Rosenzweig; a Leadership and Administration Core (LAC) led by Drs. Lewis Lipsitz and Peter Oettgen; and 3 Resource Cores, including: 1) Clinical Research and Recruitment, led by Dr. Lewis Lipsitz; 2) Advanced Statistics and Psychometrics led by Drs. Richard Jones and Adrienne Cupples; and 3) Physiologic Measurement and Biomarkers led by Dr. Vera Novak. For the RCDC, PESC, and LAC we have created leadership pairs who bring expertise in vascular biology, aging, and mentoring to our OAIC. Dr. Lipsitz Professor of Medicine and founding member of the Harvard OAIC, will continue to serve as principal investigator. After a formal solicitation and review process, we selected 3 RCD, 3 pilot, 2 small pilot, and 12 external projects for support. These are closely allied with our theme, have strong potential for future funding address knowledge gaps in our conceptual model, and bring new expertise to our Pepper Center in endothelial precursor cell biology, adipokine and obesity research, retinal vascular image analysis, endothelial function measurement, renin angiotensin physiology, proteomics, informatics, and nonlinear analysis of dynamic cardiovascular signals. The Harvard OAIC will bring faculty members together for research seminars, cultural competence training, and scientific suppers, and will foster the career development of a diverse group of new scientists who are dedicated to translational research in vascular aging. Our strong institutional commitments, outstanding faculty, extensive resources, and pipeline of talented trainees and junior faculty will help ensure we meet our goals. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Aging is one of the major risk factors for vascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke, which are leading causes of death and disability in elderly people. The Harvard OAIC will strengthen and expand our knowledge and scientific resources in vascular medicine and aging to help us better understand the vascular role in age-related physical and cognitive decline, design new interventions to ameliorate this decline, and train new investigators to study this critical problem.