Center on the Demography of Aging

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Population Aging Research Center (PARC) at the University of Pennsylvania proposes a 5-year continuation of its existing P30 Center, with the following signatures themes for 2009-2014: (i) Health, disease, & mortality risks, incorporating period & cohort risks & their biologic mechanisms; (ii) Domestic/international perspectives on well-being at older ages, emphasizing decision-making & old-age financial security & their interactions with changing work patterns, family support, savings & pensions, health insurance, & health care systems; (iii) Networks as mechanisms of diffusion, vectors of disease risk, systems of resource distribution, matrices of social support, & instruments for health policy interventions; (iv) Social, economic, environmental, & behavioral aspects of HIV & chronic diseases in Latin America & Sub-Saharan Africa: co-morbidities & disability in low-resource countries, consequences for labor supply & well-being of older individuals; & (v) innovative analytic ways to improve collecting & analyzing biomarkers & genetic materials (SNPs) & data collection protocols & the use of fMRIs for studying motivations. Five Cores are proposed: Core A, Administrative & Research Support(Soldo)-to provide dedicated administrative & data management services to Associates, convene an External Advisory Committee, & establish an initiative aimed at increasing the number of NIH/NIA grant applications, especially Pilot project Pi's; Core B, Program Development (Soldo)-to sustain & evaluate the TRIO Pilot Program; support is requested for 4 diverse pilots, three 1-yr & one 2-yr pilots; Core C, External Innovative Network (Behrman)-to expand & strengthen the Latin American Network on Aging (LANA), including organizing a workshop in Yr 4 prior to PAA; Core D, External Research Resources Support & Dissemination Core (Soldo)-to create & share HRS-linked family files via the Web & share human subject protocols, sampling procedures, & protocols for collecting genetic/biologic materials with colleagues outside of Penn (inc. Latin American collaborators) & coordinate with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics to prepare Issue Briefs based on PARC research; & Core E, Statistical Data Enclave (McCabe)-to expand our virtual secure data enclave using Citrix technology to PARC Associates & their collaborators; a meeting of P30 data managers will be organized in Yr 3 to assess the cost & value of the Citrix system for data security.