Predictors & Outcomes of Cognitive Trajectories in the Oldest Old

描述(由申请人提供)：这是一份申请K24职业中期调查员奖的申请，该奖项涉及与老龄化相关的患者导向研究。这位候选人是加州大学旧金山分校(UCSF)的精神病学、神经学和流行病学副教授，拥有研究人员、临床医生和导师的既定记录。这项建议的首要目标是在9岁和10岁的老年人中确定认知轨迹、它们的预测因素和结果。我们建议从NIH资助的两项正在进行的前瞻性研究中实现我们的目标，即骨质疏松性骨折研究(SOF)和健康老龄化与身体成分研究(Health ABC)。我们将确定生活在80岁的S和90岁的S的老年人10到20年的认知功能的纵向轨迹，并确定这些认知轨迹的预测因素，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。申请者将利用她的研究作为指导以患者为导向的研究人员的平台，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、职业发展和拨款撰写研讨会，以及正式的教学培训，包括K30临床研究课程和加州大学旧金山分校新资助的CTSA计划。这位候选人的长处包括她在研究方法方面的正式培训，她在研究生产率和NIH资助方面的历史，包括几位活跃的R01，以及她早期指导初级学员的记录。该机构的优势包括K30和CTSA的资源，几笔T32和K12培训补助金，以获得潜在的受训者，以及可用于促进初级调查人员研究的资源。该奖项将有助于推进申请者在认知老化流行病学方面的研究，并有助于指导致力于认知老化患者研究的“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.