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.