Enhancing Geroscience Scholarship and Faculty Development to Minimize Frailty and Maximize Healthspan

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Aging is the single most important risk factor for comorbidity and frailty. Frailty increases the risk of poor outcomes that include falls, incident disability, hospitalization and mortality. Healthspan is the number of years lived in a healthy, vital, and functionally capable state. Frailty and healthspan exist, then, in opposition among the elderly and are at the core of optimal geriatric care. This NIA K07 Academic Leadership Career Award will support Dr. Troen’s ongoing career development and help to protect his time and effort to build the research support and mentorship infrastructure for the Center for Successful Aging (CSA), which focuses on geroscience-related research and education at the University at Buffalo (UB). The goals of this proposal are 1) to advance innovative interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaborative research to detect, understand, and minimize frailty and maximize healthspan in older adults and 2) to establish a robust mentorship, educational, and research environment that fosters development of successful interdisciplinary geroscience and geriatrics investigators. These goals will be accomplished through the candidate’s committed efforts and leadership of the CSA, the breaking down of silos, and meaningful collaboration with the multitude of existing resources for interdisciplinary research and interprofessional education and collaborative practice at UB. Aging-related and geriatric research capacity will be enhanced through active recruitment of investigators, partnerships with centers and departments across the entire university, a pilot grant program, and an annual research retreat. This will enhance interdisciplinary research, establish an optimal environment for mentorship, and support development and competing for extramural grants. Faculty development and mentorship will be supported through mentorship committees, a new geroscience curriculum, regular seminars, and an emphasis on interdisciplinary research and training opportunities. The candidate has the necessary scientific expertise, leadership skills, clinical and research training, and mentoring and teaching experience to lead the CSA, implement a program of curriculum development, and accomplish the stated aims of this proposal. He will build on existing infrastructure at UB to develop and train a diverse pool of highly- trained scientists who will conduct important research to Minimize Frailty and Maximize Healthspan. This application holds great promise in developing an interdisciplinary research and mentoring program that transcends traditional boundaries and that will enhance knowledge and ultimately improve the care of the aging population.