Research

Established in 1986, the UConn Center on Aging supports robust nationally recognized research programs. Total external research funding has continued to grow and now totals approximately $3 million annually. In addition to growth in overall research activity, there has also been an expansion of its scope, with a particular emphasis on interdisciplinary and translational research, as defined in the recent NIH Roadmap document (NIH Roadmap. Accelerating Medical Discovery to Improve Health.)

UConn Center on Aging faculty consist of accomplished geriatricians and gerontologists whose individual research skills include clinical, translational, basic or health outcomes/population research. This diversity has allowed the Center on Aging to continually enhance its research activities by monitoring the scientific progress of many relevant research disciplines and to “translate” research discoveries from one discipline (e.g., basic research) to another (e.g., clinical investigation). Efforts are also underway to “translate” discoveries made at academic institutions by validating them in “real world” community settings. Thus, research programs at the UConn Center on Aging are able to prevent or minimize disability in vulnerable older adults through a broad variety of experimental approaches with many of these efforts lying at the interface of basic and clinical or clinical and health/outcomes population research.

The overarching goal of all research efforts at the Center on Aging is to prevent or minimize disability in vulnerable older adults through an interdisciplinary and translational research program which develops and tests innovative interventions, develops a mechanistic understanding of disability and trains future academic leaders in geriatrics and gerontology. With the above goals in mind, research programs at the UConn Center on Aging address both conditions which raise the risk of fractures (osteoporosis, sarcopenia, mobility problems) and conditions which complicate functional recovery in vulnerable older individuals (acute respiratory illness, urinary retention).

Research studies conducted at the UConn Center on Aging are designed to:

1)    Foster a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms by which inflammatory and endocrine risk factors contribute to frailty and disability

2)    Conduct preclinical and clinical trials intended to prevent or delay frailty and disability

3)    Better understand how frailty and disability are associated with sociocultural and behavioral factors, as well as healthcare and long-term care service delivery and costs.