7. Project Summary- PESC The overall goal of the UM-OAIC Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC) is to provide critical initial funding for pilot and exploratory studies that are consistent with the Center’s overall goal, which is to build on the scientific and therapeutic applications of exercise and rehabilitation by: 1) advancing our understanding of the mechanisms by which exercise, activity-based, and rehabilitation interventions directed at specific impairments affect multiple body systems underlying functional performance; and 2) developing and testing interventions to restore function and minimize disability from acute and chronic serious diseases in older adults. To accomplish these goals, we propose: 1) To solicit and select high-quality innovative pilot and exploratory studies (PES) that are consistent with the overall UM-OAIC goal; and 2) support the implementation of these innovative and promising PES through the utilization of PESC and UM-OAIC resources. These resources are structured to support the successful design and implementation of PES and include: Research Design Studios to provide specific methodological expertise; Project Implementation Support Groups to ensure prompt and efficient initiation of research projects; and multidisciplinary Research Working Groups to provide mentoring and guide and assist investigators in conducting their projects, reporting results, and developing future investigations. Pilot study awardees will further leverage the resources from the UM-OAIC Resource Cores along with allied programs and centers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the larger University System of Maryland, and nationally through collaboration with other OAICs. PES will be selected through a rigorous peer review process led by the Research Education Advisory Panel, with reviewers selected from the External Advisory Board, leaders from other OAICs, and a member of the Core Leadership Executive Committee. Input will also be solicited from the Community Advisory Board to ensure that projects are relevant in older adults and their caregivers from diverse communities in Baltimore and the State of Maryland. Three innovative projects will be selected for funding in the first year of this competitive renewal, led by PIs from the Departments of Epidemiology and Public Health, Orthopedics, and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. These projects will investigate: 1) The intersection of depression and pain on functional outcomes in knee osteoarthritis, utilizing data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative; 2) cell mechanics as a mechanism of biological age, using translational methods to examine microtubular structure and cystokeletal stiffness as markers of biological age in pre-clinical and human models; and 3) a pilot-level randomized controlled trial of telemedicine and telerehabilitation in older Intensive Care Unit survivors on functional outcomes, rehospitalization, and ambulatory clinic retention. The results obtained from these pilot and exploratory studies will provide key preliminary data to support grant applications for extramural funding for larger, more definitive investigator- initiated studies.
7. Project Summary: REC The purpose of the Research Education Core (REC) is to foster the career development of junior faculty from multiple disciplines into scientists focusing on the restoration of function in order to improve function in those with impairments and prevent or delay further progression in those who are already disabled (i.e., enablement). The REC supports Scholars and affiliated faculty (who are former Scholars or junior faculty with career development awards related to our mission) in mentor-based research training and other activities which create a supportive research community. The UM-OAIC has a successful 25-year history of training that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries to develop scientists conducting novel research to maintain and improve independence in older adults. The UM- OAIC REC has several unique elements: • It attracts and brings together junior faculty from multiple backgrounds, departments and schools at UM in Baltimore, Baltimore County and (soon) College Park into a supportive research community; • it uses a structured Faculty Development Plan, which enhances training experiences, to guide and measure Scholar’s progress; • it integrates the UM-OAIC with other UM career development programs to create group and individualized training in functional impairments in older adults and scientific communication for each Scholar; and • it develops Research Working Groups, individualized to each Scholar’s project, to pursue and facilitate interdisciplinary studies focused on bi-directional translational research projects related to the UM-OAIC theme. The outcomes of this training program for the Scholar include the preliminary data and peer reviewed publications for a successful career development award application. The specific aims of the REC are to: 1) Recruit and retain REC Scholars and affiliated faculty committed to research careers congruent with the UM-OAIC mission; 2) Train REC Scholars and affiliated faculty through mentored research projects and individualized training plans which use the resources of the UM-OAIC, the national OAIC network and other NIA supported programs; 3) Develop a Leadership Academy to prepare the next generation of scientist to lead research on older adults; and 4) Evaluate the UM-OAIC REC. With this renewal, the REC is on the forefront of research training and developing junior faculty into scientists that solve the clinical problems that result in the loss of independence for older adults.
