The Operations Core (OC) supports research on multifactorial geriatric conditions by recruiting older adults who are diverse and representative, engaging older adults from the community as stakeholders, monitoring the safety of participants, offering resources to support aging research, designing electronic data collection sys- tems that result in high-quality data, developing software applications to support study workflow and analysis, and collecting, preparing and reporting data that account for the complexity of multifactorial aging research. The overall goal of the OC (RC1) is to ensure the successful implementation of multifactorial aging research. This goal will be accomplished by leading coordinated efforts with OAIC investigators and research staff. The Specific Aims of the OC are to: (1) provide services to achieve the aims of OAIC-funded and other aging-fo- cused research projects and the infrastructure to support investigators leading these projects; (2) collaborate to improve field, data management and informatics methodologies needed to advance aging-focused research on multifactorial geriatric conditions and to foster the development of the next generation of aging-focused investi- gators; and (3) conduct innovative Development Projects that advance the mission of the Yale OAIC. During the current funding cycle (2018-present), the OC provided research support for 16 OAIC-funded projects and 35 External Projects, consulted with 116 Yale investigators on field and data management plans for projects and grant submissions, was awarded NIH supplemental funding to build an innovative suite of soft- ware tools called the Yale Study Support Suite, and collaborated with other Pepper Centers and NIA-spon- sored programs on research projects, delivery of educational seminars, and software dissemination. These OC efforts have resulted in 129 publications and more than 30 extramurally funded grants totaling over $150 mil- lion. During the next funding cycle, the OC will: (1) collaborate on 5 of the 6 proposed REC and PESC projects and 34 of the 40 funded External Projects; (2) mentor new research staff in the OC; (3) refine and adapt ser- vices to meet program needs; (4) advise and support investigators on study operations, reporting, and compli- ance with NIH requirements; (5) broaden the impact of the core by disseminating innovative software products; and (6) enhance our research informatics infrastructure by working with the OAIC Coordinating Center to iden- tify funding sources that will permit the further expansion of the Yale Study Support Suite (YES3). The YES3 software will serve as an integral part of study operations support for OAIC projects, and with continued expan- sion through the proposed Development Project (DP-1), will provide additional tools for analysis, reporting, and monitoring. The goal of DP-1 is to build the YES3 Datamart REDCap External Module (EM), innovative soft- ware that will integrate with the YES3 Exporter, an EM developed during the current funding cycle. The new Datamart EM will further support analysis, monitoring, and reporting of OAIC studies and will be designed to be compatible with future YES3 components that share data with sponsor and regulatory agencies.
The objective of the Research Education Core (REC) is to identify highly promising early-stage investigators and provide support to promote their development as independent investigators and leaders in aging research. The REC seeks to provide three groups of investigators, designated as REC Scholars, Small REC Awardees, and REC Affiliates, with the knowledge and skills to conduct biological, translational, and clinical studies of multifactorial geriatric conditions and to obtain subsequent funding from a broad range of sources. The out- comes and career advancement goals for the REC investigators include: 1) publication of research results in high-impact journals; 2) success in obtaining independent funding, both to support further career development and specific research projects; and 3) development of leadership skills necessary to manage research teams, become successful mentors, and assume leadership roles in the OAIC and their departments/divisions. This renewal application builds upon the successful experiences of the current and prior funding cycles in nurturing faculty from both geriatric medicine and a variety of medical subspecialties, including both physicians and PhD investigators. We will expand upon the advances in the current cycle to support investigators pursu- ing basic and translational research programs, in addition to those pursuing clinical research programs, en- couraging them to embrace the complexities of multifactorial geriatric conditions. The inclusion of three groups of REC investigators will allow us to provide support to an expanded group of early-stage investigators. The REC Scholars will receive (1) the most extensive financial support to protect their time for conducting research and (2) priority access to the Resource Cores to conduct OAIC-supported projects. The Small REC Awardees will receive more modest financial support with the goal of developing strong candidates for subsequent REC Scholar awards or other funding. REC Affiliates will not receive project funding but will have access to all REC didactic and career development activities. All three groups of REC investigators will receive research and ca- reer development support in a number of key areas, including: 1) appropriate mentorship in aging/geriatrics, especially for trainees new to aging research and/or in fields outside of geriatric medicine; 2) a didactic curricu- lum addressing key skills and knowledge necessary for the study of multifactorial geriatric conditions; 3) a cur- riculum to support the transition to independent funding and build leadership skills; 4) regular research-in-pro- gress meetings to present their own work and to learn from the experiences of other early-stage investigators; 5) additional research meetings to learn from more experienced investigators; 6) a day-long career develop- ment retreat focused on aging-related research; 7) regular updates regarding research meetings, career devel- opment activities, and funding opportunities both within and outside of Yale; and 8) mentorship and Resource Core support for the development and writing of larger scale grant applications. We will identify and support a diverse array of early-stage investigators, including those from under-represented groups.
The overarching objective of the Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC) is to advance the scientific knowledge base of multifactorial geriatric conditions. The LAC, which is led by two board-certified geriatric phy- sician investigators with complementary expertise, is responsible for strategic planning, organization, adminis- trative operations and evaluation of the OAIC research and training program. A special effort is devoted to en- suring the cohesion of the Center and maintenance of an interdisciplinary and translational research focus on the common research theme, which is the investigation of multifactorial geriatric conditions. The key LAC tasks are achieved by the Core Leader (Dr. Thomas Gill), Co-Leader (Dr. Terri Fried), two Administrators, and three committees: the Executive Committee, the Internal Advisory Committee, and the External Advisory Committee. The LAC has gained much experience, knowledge, and understanding of OAIC operations over its 30 years of continuous funding, including the past 20 years under the P30 mechanism. We will build on the strong existing collaborative relationships and cumulative expertise as we enter our next funding cycle. The Specific Aims of the LAC are to: (1) oversee the coordination, integration, and administration of all as- pects of the OAIC, including the utilization of core resources, and foster collaborations with other research and training programs that will help to accomplish the OAIC goals; (2) promote the conduct and dissemination of academically productive, innovative, high impact, and clinically safe research by REC Scholars, other early- stage investigators, Pilot/Exploratory Studies (PESs), Resource Cores, and External Projects; (3) ensure the independent review and oversight of OAIC research and the training of REC Scholars and other early-stage investigators; (4) foster the career development of junior faculty and other trainees from multiple disciplines into independent investigators and academic leaders in aging research; (5) recruit and encourage outstanding early-stage investigators, along with more senior faculty, to focus their research on aging, particularly multifac- torial geriatric conditions, with an emphasis on translation between basic and clinical research; (6) identify and facilitate productive collaborations with other OAICs and institutions; and (7) monitor university, government and fiscal matters, ensure the preparation of necessary progress reports and administrative documents relating to the award, and collaborate with the NIA project office and Coordinating Center on OAIC activities. Taken together, the LAC provides support for planning, organizational, evaluation, and administrative activities relating to the other Cores and to the OAIC as a whole. The LAC is responsible for monitoring, stimulating, sustaining, evaluating, and reporting progress toward the overall goals of the Yale OAIC. During the next fund- ing cycle, an important new priority will be the promotion of outstanding translational geroscience research.
The overarching objective of the Yale Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC), established in 1992, is to provide intellectual leadership and innovation for aging research that is directed at enhancing the inde- pendence of older persons. The unifying theme of the Yale OAIC remains the investigation of multifactorial ger- iatric conditions, encompassing single conditions resulting from multiple contributing factors or affecting multi- ple outcomes and multiple conditions occurring simultaneously. The central Yale OAIC hypothesis is that geriatric conditions are determined by the co-occurrence of multiple predisposing and precipitating factors. These conditions and factors, in turn, affect a range of health outcomes. The predisposing factors may be at the genetic, molecular, physiologic, impairment, disease, or socio-demographic level, while the precipitating factors may be behavioral, environmental, social, medical, or psychological. The Yale OAIC theme requires designs and models (e.g. molecular, animal, and statistical) that inform the study of multiple, simultaneously interactive factors and outcomes. As a prominent subtheme, the Yale OAIC also aims to advance the science of clinical decision making in the face of trade-offs and multiple competing outcomes. This includes developing strategies to elicit older persons’ health outcome priorities. The Specific Aims of the Yale OAIC are to: 1) foster the career development of future academic leaders, from multiple disciplines, in aging research; 2) train investigators, biostatisticians and other methodologists in the skills necessary to design, conduct, analyze, and disseminate findings from studies of multifactorial geriat- ric conditions; 3) develop and disseminate design and analytic techniques for conducting studies of multifacto- rial geriatric conditions; 4) develop strategies for recruiting into, and retaining, a broad spectrum of older per- sons, including minorities, into studies of multifactorial geriatric conditions; 5) investigate the causative mecha- nisms of, and develop and test effective treatments for, geriatric conditions from a multifactorial research per- spective; 6) develop strategies to enhance clinical decision making in the setting of multiple competing out- comes; 7) encourage and facilitate interdisciplinary research (basic, translational and clinical) that connects to our focus on multifactorial geriatric conditions; and 8) further strengthen collaborations with other OAICs. The Yale OAIC cores include: 1) Leadership and Administrative; 2) Research Education (REC); 3) Pilot/Exploratory Studies; 4) Operations; and 5) Biostatistics. For the first one to two years of the next funding cycle, we propose to support 3 REC Scholars, 3 pilot studies, 2 development projects, and 40 externally funded projects. The Yale OAIC has made outstanding progress during the current funding cycle, as evidenced by publica- tion of 474 manuscripts and receipt of more than $196 million in grants (total costs), with an additional $25.5 million pending. Based on grants received, the return on investment from OAIC support is more than 34 to 1. During the next 5 years, we are planning to focus more intently on translational geroscience research.
