Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC)
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PROJECT ABSTRACT SUMMARY - Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC) The theme of the UCSF OAIC is "Predictors, Outcomes, and Amelioration of Late-life Disability: A Focus on Vulnerable Populations." We are dedicated to better understanding and addressing late-life disability in vulnerable populations - vulnerable due to either medical vulnerabilities (such as cancer with comorbid lung disease and cognitive impairment) or to social vulnerabilities (such as isolation, poverty, and other forms of social disadvantage). During our second cycle, the UCSF OAIC successfully expanded the work and impact of our programs, creating a dynamic and collaborative center that has made key contributions to science and investigator development in our thematic niche. In our third cycle, we will continue to build the people and programs that are shifting paradigms in aging and improving clinical care. The LAC is the glue that coordinates the OAIC Cores and maintains collaboration and will continue its focus on tangible metrics of research productivity: publications in high impact journals and new NIH funding. To achieve these goals, we have identified nine specific aims. They allow the Center to excel in its mission of developing superb investigators and supporting the highest-quality science. Our aims also focus on building partnerships with other programs at UCSF such as our CTSI, RCMAR, and ADRC and with the national OAIC network. The LAC has the following Specific Aims: 1. To provide leadership, direction, and coordination across OAIC Cores 2. To provide day-to-day management of the UCSF OAIC, including administrative tasks such as the annual progress report and communications with the OAIC Coordinating Center. 3. To manage fiscal matters, review use of Core resources, and make reallocation decisions. 4. To lead outreach efforts, linking the OAIC with other UCSF centers and the national OAIC network. 5. To assess opportunities for new uses of Core resources, with special consideration of opportunities for translation between clinical research, practice, and policy. 6. To assess and plan areas of collaboration among UCSF OAIC Cores and with other OAICs. 7. To solicit, review, and fund proposals for REC, PESC, and DP awards in collaboration with relevant Cores. 8. To organize activities of UCSF OAIC advisory boards and review panels. 9. To monitor Core progress and implement necessary remediation. LAC Leaders Drs. Covinsky and Steinman will foster a mission-driven culture of excellence, achievement, intellectual generosity, and collaboration, pushing the UCSF OAIC team to support research that translates into better care for vulnerable older adults.
PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT – Overall UCSF Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC) The UCSF OAIC theme is "Predictors, Outcomes, and Amelioration of Late-life Disability: A Focus on Vulnerable Populations." Late-life disability will affect 80% of older Americans, has a profound impact on patient and caregiver quality of life, and carries large costs. These challenges have special resonance for older adults who are vulnerable, which we conceptualize as a complex interplay of both medical vulnerability (such as cancer in persons with complex multimorbidity) and social vulnerability (such as social isolation or poverty). We are deeply committed to advancing the science of preventing and ameliorating disability in older adults with these vulnerabilities, in large part by mentoring and supporting the future leaders of aging science who will develop this theme. During our first 9 years, the UCSF OAIC has supported and mentored an interdisciplinary community of investigators whose paradigm-shifting research that has changed clinical practice and policy and yielded major advances in our understanding of disability, including elucidating inextricable linkages between medical and social vulnerabilities. We have been a galvanizing force at UCSF, infusing aging science into a wide array of specialties and disciplines. Our dedication to developing the next generation of researchers has led to publications in the highest impact journals, R01 awards, an unprecedented number of GEMSSTAR and Beeson Awards, and mentorship awards for OAIC Leaders. During the next cycle, we will build on our track record of success while growing and innovating in new directions to respond to emerging opportunities. Our two resource cores – the Data and Analysis Core (DAC) and the Vulnerable Aging Research Core (VARC) - will catalyze a wide spectrum of clinical and outcomes research. Our Research and Education Component (REC) Scholars and Pilot and Exploratory Studies (PESC) Scholars will be provided the resources, mentorship, and community to build a platform for long-term research success in our theme area. Our Leadership and Administration Core (LAC) will guide the Center's activities and mission and ensure tight integration between all of our Cores and activities. Together, we will advance our center's 5 aims: to (1) Catalyze research on disability in vulnerable older persons by serving as a hub that brings together scholars and leverages resources to advance aging disability science and career development; (2) Provide core access to data resources, statistical support, and expertise enrolling and retaining vulnerable older subjects in order to stimulate new research on disability; (3) Identify the future leaders of geriatrics research and catalyze their development with career development funding and exceptional mentoring; (4) Support pilot studies that accelerate aging science and lead to research funding in late life disability; and (5) Develop a leadership and administrative structure that spurs interdisciplinary collaboration, making the OAIC greater than the sum of its parts.
PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT – Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC) The overall goal of the Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC) is to promote innovative and promising research addressing the predictors, outcomes and amelioration of late-life disability, especially in vulnerable populations. This renewal application builds on the success of the OAIC PESC over the past 9 years in which we have supported scholars from across the academic spectrum of seniority, from residents to senior faculty. The impact of the OAIC PESC Scholars to date has been significant, resulting in over $16 million in federal funding. For this cycle, we are placing special attention on the intense pressures placed on junior faculty transitioning to independence and opportunities to catalyze their future projects and career growth in our OAIC theme area. As a result, we will focus on supporting junior scholars who already have a K award and are preparing for the transition to independence – namely, by supporting pilot, exploratory and preliminary studies to facilitate a first R01 or equivalent award. We will additionally maintain flexibility to prioritize scholars from underrepresented backgrounds interested in in equity research, though they may be at earlier stages in training (i.e., pre-K). The PESC specific aims are as follows: (1) Identify promising junior scholars interested in or committed to aging research focused on the medical and social determinants of late-life disability, and support their transition from career development awards to R01/equivalent awards with pilot and exploratory funding; (2) Integrate training and support activities of the PESC (which is focused on K to R transitions) closely with the REC (which is focused on obtaining K-awards) to develop a seamless program of support from pre-K fellows to Associate Professors; (3) Provide PESC Scholars support in study design, analysis, recruitment and retention of diverse and vulnerable populations through use of the OAIC Cores, specifically the Data and Analysis Core (DAC) and the Vulnerable Aging Research Core (VARC); (4) Integrate PESC studies and scholars with resources from the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities, the Center for Vulnerable Populations, and other relevant resources at UCSF; and (5) Promote diversity among researchers in aging, through offering specific support for pilot award candidates from diverse backgrounds who apply for PESC funding.
PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT—Research Education Component (REC) The overall goal of the Research Education Component (REC) is to identify, support, and nurture talented junior investigators who will become national leaders in aging research, especially within our theme of late-life disability in vulnerable populations. This renewal application builds on the success of the UCSF REC over the past 9 years in identifying and fostering the development of an incredible talent pool of junior investigators across a wide range of divisions, departments and schools (e.g., Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Geriatrics, HIV, Hospital Medicine, Hepatology, Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Neurology, Nursing, Oncology, Palliative Medicine, Psychiatry, Physical Therapy, Social Science, Surgery, Urology) towards independence in aging research. The REC continues to focus on supporting junior faculty with exceptional potential for leadership in aging research during two crucial points in their career: (1) obtaining NIH K-award funding and (2) the K-to-R grant transition. The REC Scholars Program supports early career faculty who need protected time, mentorship and educational resources to accelerate their path towards NIA K awards. The REC also provides mentorship and educational resources to PESC Scholars with NIH K awards to accelerate their path towards their first R01. Scholars complete an Individualized Development Plan to tailor their research and educational experiences to their needs for becoming a leader in aging research in their specialty or discipline. Principles of aging and health equity are core competencies threaded throughout elements of data collection, analysis, manuscript and grant writing, communication and leadership. Also, REC leadership will work with leaders of the Resource Cores to provide each scholar access to additional services, which have been central to the success of our scholars during our first two cycles. The REC will continue to build on its strength of developing investigators from diverse disciplines and specialties, including investigators at the interface of basic and clinical research, to give them the tools, resources and leadership skills to succeed in aging research and provide a pathway towards independence. The REC also sponsors a Diversity Supplement Program to increase the number of faculty from underrepresented backgrounds conducting aging research at UCSF and sponsors a summer aging research program to increase the number of students underrepresented in health professions and has a close partnership with the UCSF Resource Center for Minority Aging Research. We are proud of the paradigm-changing work of our scholars who have published in the highest impact journals, received prestigious grants and become valued collaborators and partners in our mission to improve the health of vulnerable elders.
