Interconnections among Cognition, Pain, and Physical Function in Aging.

项目摘要 本申请书是国家老龄研究所颁发的独立科学家奖(K02)的申请书。这个 候选人托马斯·W·布福德博士是加州大学医学系的副教授 阿拉巴马州的伯明翰。到目前为止，布福德博士在衰老和 保留身体机能。他的长期目标是建立一个可持续的研究计划，重点是 确定和制定治疗策略，以保持老年人的身体独立性。 此应用程序的目标是为应聘者提供必要的保护时间以获得 将认知健康和疼痛管理这两个相互关联的领域结合起来所需的知识和技能， 加入他现有的研究项目。这些区域代表了老龄化中的两大流行病，包括慢性 阿片类药物滥用和认知障碍，包括轻度认知障碍、阿尔茨海默氏症和其他痴呆。 虽然这些领域被认为是老年人的高度优先事项，并与身体素质下降有关 功能，到目前为止，很少有研究人员常规地将这些因素纳入到关于 保护老年人的身体机能。获得这些领域的专业知识将提供 候选人对保持身体独立的关键问题有更微妙的看法。 颁奖活动还将带来和扩大技能集，最终有助于提高设计能力 并进行研究，能够对老年人的健康和生活质量产生有意义的影响 成年人。培训计划包括三个主要目标：1)获得新的知识和技能 2)在评估中获得新的知识和技能 和治疗老年人的疼痛，以及3)高级指导和领导技能，以支持 可持续研究计划。研究计划旨在与培训计划相结合，以提供 有机会1)利用已建立的数据源探索以下领域的新关系 认知/疼痛和身体功能指数，以及2)参与前瞻性数据收集以了解 这些领域的实验室方法，并在这些领域产生新的数据。他的顾问团队包括 在认知(Ronald Lazar博士；弗吉尼亚·沃德利博士)和疼痛(Roger)方面都有成熟、资金雄厚的专家 Fillingim，博士，布瑞尔·古丁，博士)以及生物统计学(Gerald McGwin，博士)和研究 领导力(Marcas Bamman，博士)。这支优秀的团队将帮助候选人成功地融入 这些新概念与他现有的研究相结合。此K02奖项将为候选人提供受保护的时间 扩大他的研究计划，这将提高他的研究的整体创造力和可持续性。 最终，预计这一进展将增强他为 健康老龄化，并通过创建更多跨学科的方法来改进对未来学员的培训 融合了物理学、认知科学和疼痛科学的原理。

Project Summary This application is for an Independent Scientist Award (K02) from the National Institute on Aging. The candidate, Dr. Thomas W. Buford, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Buford has to date established a strong scientific track record in aging and the preservation of physical function. His long-term goal is to establish a sustainable research program focused on identifying and developing therapeutic strategies for the preserving physical independence among older adults. The objective of this application is to provide the candidate with the protected time necessary to acquire knowledge and skills needed to incorporate two inter-related areas, cognitive health and pain management, into his existing research program. These areas represent two major epidemics in aging including chronic opioid abuse and cognitive disorders including mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, and other dementias. While these areas are recognized as high-priorities for older adults and are associated with declining physical function, few investigators to date have routinely incorporated these factors into prospective studies concerning the preservation of physical function among older adults. Acquiring expertise in these areas will provide the candidate with a more nuanced view of the key issues surrounding the preservation of physical independence. Award activities will also lead to and expanded skillset, ultimately contributing to an improved ability to design and execute research studies capable of making meaningful impacts on the health and quality of life of older adults. The training plan includes three primary objectives which are to: 1) Acquire new knowledge and skills to the assessment and maintenance of cognition in aging, 2) acquire new knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of pain in older adults, and 3) advance mentoring and leadership skills necessary to support a sustainable research program. The research plan is designed to integrate with the training plan to provide the candidate with opportunities to 1) utilize established data sources to explore novel relationships between cognition/pain and indices of physical function, and 2) participate in prospective data collection to learn laboratory methods in these areas and generate novel data in these areas. His advisory team includes established, well-funded experts in both cognition (Ronald Lazar, PhD; Virginia Wadley, PhD) and pain (Roger Fillingim, PhD, Burel Goodin, PhD) in aging as well in biostatistics (Gerald McGwin, PhD) and research leadership (Marcas Bamman, PhD). This outstanding team will facilitate the candidate’s success in integrating these new concepts with his existing research. This K02 award will provide the candidate with protected time to expand his research program which will enhance the overall creativity and sustainability of his research. Ultimately this progress is expected to enhance his potential to make significant contributions to the field of healthy aging and to improve the training of future mentees by creating a more interdisciplinary approach incorporating principles from physical, cognitive, and pain sciences.