Predictors & Outcomes of Cognitive Trajectories in the Oldest Old

描述（由申请人提供）：这是一个K24中期职业生涯研究者奖在老龄化相关的面向患者的研究申请。候选人是加州大学旧金山分校弗朗西斯科的精神病学、神经病学和流行病学副教授，拥有研究人员、临床医生和导师的良好记录。这项建议的首要目标是确定认知轨迹，其预测因素和老年人在他们的第9和10个十年的生活中的结果。我们建议从两个正在进行的NIH资助的前瞻性研究，骨质疏松性骨折研究（SOF）和健康老化和身体成分研究（健康ABC）来实现我们的目标。我们将确定80岁和90岁的老年人认知功能的10到20年的纵向轨迹，并确定这些认知轨迹的预测因子，主要是新的生物标志物。此外，我们将确定这些不同的轨迹如何影响重要的健康结果，如功能状态，死亡率和养老院安置。申请人将利用她的研究作为以患者为导向的研究人员的指导平台，并将促进认知老化的多学科研究方法。学员将参加研究研讨会，职业发展和赠款写作研讨会，并在正式的教学培训，包括K30临床研究课程和新资助的CTSA计划在加州大学旧金山分校。候选人的优势包括她在研究方法方面的正式培训，她的研究生产力和NIH资助的历史，包括几个活跃的R01，以及她指导初级学员的早期记录。该机构的优势包括K30和CTSA的资源，几个T32和K12培训赠款，从中获得潜在的学员，以及资源的可用性，以促进初级研究人员的研究。该奖项将有助于推进申请人在认知老化流行病学方面的研究，并指导致力于认知老化患者导向研究的“下一代”研究人员。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for a K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in aging-related patient-oriented research. The candidate is an associate professor of psychiatry, neurology and epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) with an established record as a researcher, clinician, and mentor. The overarching aims of this proposal are to identify cognitive trajectories, their predictors and outcomes among elders in their 9th and 10 decade of life. We propose to conduct our aims from two ongoing NIH-funded prospective studies, the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) and the Health Aging and Body Composition Study (Health ABC). We will determine the 10- to 20-year longitudinal trajectories of cognitive function of elders living into their 80's and 90's and to identify the predictors, primarily novel biomarkers, of these cognitive trajectories. In addition, we will determine how these different trajectories influence important health outcomes such as functional status, mortality and nursing home placement. The applicant will use her research as a platform for the mentorship of patient-oriented researchers and will promote a multidisciplinary research approach to cognitive aging. Trainees will participate in research seminars, career development and grant-writing workshops, and in formal didactic training including the K30 Clinical Research Curriculum and the newly funded CTSA program at UCSF. Strengths of the candidate include her formal training in research methods, her history of research productivity and NIH funding including several active R01s, and her early track record of mentoring junior trainees. Strengths of the institution include the resources of the K30 and CTSA, several T32 and K12 training grants from which to garner potential mentees, and the availability of resources to foster research of junior investigators. This award will be instrumental in advancing the applicant's research in the epidemiology of cognitive aging and in mentoring the "next generation" of investigators committed to cognitive aging patient-oriented research.