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Researchers at the Institute for Aging Research have had great success in attracting grants to support projects in their specific areas of investigation. But many have also benefited from two large grants offered by National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging to promote geriatric medical and social gerontological studies. They are the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center/Harvard Research Nursing Home (RNH) program and the Harvard/Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC).
Hebrew Rehabilitation Center/Harvard Research Nursing Home (RNH)
Funding: National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging
In the fall of 2004, IFAR received a grant to extend the 20-year-old RNH study. The initial grant was one of seven established by NIA to stimulate high-quality research into the development, course and treatment of diseases and disabilities prevalent in old age. The research community had largely neglected this area of study before this grant was established. The RNH study is the only one of the original seven that received renewed funding.
Mobilize Boston
Years 21 through 25 of the RNH grant will continue to support research across several centers and programs within IFAR. A first-of-its-kind project made possible under this funding is called Maintenance of Balance, Independent Living, Intellect and Zest in Boston Seniors or MOBILIZE Boston. It represents a comprehensive effort to collect information on community-dwelling seniors that will help researchers learn how older adults can maintain good health and remain independent longer. The study is currently in the recruitment stage and the goal is to enroll 800 seniors age 70 or older from all of Boston's neighborhoods.
The seniors will undergo a thorough baseline clinical evaluation that will assess both the physical and cognitive functional status of each participant. They will then be reevaluated each year for two years. The data gathered during this study will constitute a treasure trove for doctors and researchers who can apply it to future gerontological research projects.
Harvard/Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC)
Funding: National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging
The Harvard/Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center grant funds a major multi-institutional, multidisciplinary research program aimed at developing interventions that address common, disabling, but underinvestigated geriatric conditions that threaten the independence of older Americans. This grant supports IFAR's subject recruitment efforts to provide sources of senior subjects who meet each study's criteria; increase recruitment of minorities; develop and validate a procedure for allocating recruitment resources; develop new projects and training activities; and disseminate information. In addition, OAIC has supported work in the cardiovascular research arm of the Institute for Aging Research.
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