A valuable data resource: Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, or BLSA, is one of the world’s longest running studies of aging. Started in 1958, the BLSA enrolls healthy volunteers ages 20 years and older and follows them longitudinally—for life—even performing an autopsy in those who consented. I want to encourage researchers who study issues related to aging and have questions that require the unique design and depth of information available in the BLSA to submit an analysis proposal to use the data. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - April 2, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Luigi Ferrucci, Director, NIA Intramural Research Program Source Type: blogs
It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. It is modern times at NIA.
When the dust cleared on our budget this year, the NIA was blessed with a 12.5%, $130 million increase over fiscal year 2013’s sequester-dictated funding. As the NIH as a whole received a 3.4% increase, NIA’s 2014 funding reflects extraordinary recognition from Congress. In fiscal year 2013 (October 2012 to September 2013), we saw our worst success rate ever for research project grant applications—R01s, R21s, R03s, etc. NIA’s success rate was noticeably below the NIH average success rate, which was also among the lowest ever for NIH as a whole. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - March 26, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Robin Barr, Director of the Division of Extramural Activities Source Type: blogs
Coming to the U.S. to do science at NIA intramural
Doing science, living abroad, and learning how to speak and think in a new language. Not so easy! But like many of you, I enjoy challenges. So, I took up all of these, all at once. I left Italy 3 years ago to start a postdoc here in Baltimore, Maryland, at the National Institute on Aging. The NIA is an energetic, international environment, as is its parent organization, the National Institutes of Health. Although I am sure many of you left your country to pursue your science career, as I did, every story is different. Here is mine. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - March 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Davide Guerrieri, Postdoctoral Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) Fellow, Neuroplasticity and Behavioral Unit, Laboratory of Neurosciences, Intramural Research Program Source Type: blogs
Applications due March 28: Butler-Williams Scholars Program
The application deadline is fast approaching for NIA’s prestigious summer training opportunity: the Butler-Williams Scholars Program. I hope that you’ve already applied, or have encouraged your mentees to do so. To help you understand a bit more about this program and what it offers, I interviewed NIA Deputy Director Marie A. Bernard. Marie is a longtime advocate of this program, an intensive week-long training whirlwind to boost the careers of emerging scholars in aging research. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - March 12, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carl V. Hill, Director, Office of Special Populations Source Type: blogs
Adding gray to the rainbow: NIA ’s support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender research
While we are beginning to understand the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities through medical research, one area that needs attention is research on the health of older LGBT Americans. Efforts such as the recent NIA-supported Caring and Aging with Pride study, the first national, federally funded project examining LGBT aging and health, are providing us with the beginnings of a solid knowledge base & mdash;but we still have a long way to go. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - March 5, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Kate Nagy, Senior Public Health Analyst, Office of Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation Source Type: blogs
Adding gray to the rainbow: NIA’s support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender research
While we are beginning to understand the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities through medical research, one area that needs attention is research on the health of older LGBT Americans. Efforts such as the recent NIA-supported Caring and Aging with Pride study, the first national, federally funded project examining LGBT aging and health, are providing us with the beginnings of a solid knowledge base—but we still have a long way to go. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - March 5, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Kate Nagy, Senior Public Health Analyst, Office of Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation Source Type: blogs
Save-the-date: on May 21, 2014, tune in to NIA Council webcast
The Advisory Council of the National Institute on Aging is holding one of its thrice yearly meetings today. Did you know you can watch online? The next meeting is on May 21, 2014, from about 8am to 3pm EST. Please save the date! We invite you to tune in, so I hope you'll mark it on your calendar. How do I catch up on today's meeting? (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - February 26, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Robin Barr, Director of the Division of Extramural Activities Source Type: blogs
What can your NIA program officer do for you? Part 2 —how to get in touch
You ’ve now figured out which NIA program officer handles your kind of science. But how to get in touch? I hope you’re not agonizing over whether now is the right moment or whether your message will be well received. If you’ve spent a few minutes reviewing published resources related to your quest ions—for example, the NIA and NIH grants websites—your remaining questions are probably good ones to ask. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: John Haaga, Deputy Director, Division of Behavioral and Social Research Source Type: blogs
What can your NIA program officer do for you? Part 2—how to get in touch
You’ve now figured out which NIA program officer handles your kind of science. But how to get in touch? I hope you’re not agonizing over whether now is the right moment or whether your message will be well received. If you’ve spent a few minutes reviewing published resources related to your questions—for example, the NIA and NIH grants websites—your remaining questions are probably good ones to ask. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - February 19, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: John Haaga, Deputy Director, Division of Behavioral and Social Research Source Type: blogs
NIA budget update
Last month, the NIA got good news about our budget for fiscal year 2014: $130 million more than last year. We are grateful for this increase. It means that this year there will be more funding than last for aging research, including a focus on Alzheimer’s disease. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - February 12, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Richard Hodes, Director, National Institute on Aging Source Type: blogs
What is NIA ’s Office of Special Populations and what does it do?
Just last month, NIA-funded researchers reported on a relationship between racial discrimination and telomere length among a community sample of African American men. & nbsp; Telomere length, of course, has been associated with aging. And the study found that men with more experience of discrimination and more internalized racial bias had shorter telomeres, thus, perhaps, contributing to premature aging. While these types of findings need further research to determine causality, this fascinating finding illustrates the importance of research on health disparities in the basic biology of aging. Disparities are the focus of ...
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - February 5, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carl V. Hill, Director, Office of Special Populations Source Type: blogs
What is NIA’s Office of Special Populations and what does it do?
Just last month, NIA-funded researchers reported on a relationship between racial discrimination and telomere length among a community sample of African American men. Telomere length, of course, has been associated with aging. And the study found that men with more experience of discrimination and more internalized racial bias had shorter telomeres, thus, perhaps, contributing to premature aging. While these types of findings need further research to determine causality, this fascinating finding illustrates the importance of research on health disparities in the basic biology of aging. Disparities are the focus of th...
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - February 5, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carl V. Hill, Director, Office of Special Populations Source Type: blogs
Are impact ratings random?
With paylines being what they are at NIA and NIH, we tend to hear that discriminating among applications in the narrow range of scores represented by the top 20 percent of applications reviewed by the Center for Scientific Review is a lottery. Surely, it is too much to ask of peer review to discriminate reasonably among applications of such quality. So what sense, then, in drawing a payline? Why not hold a lottery instead? Or at least allow program and senior Institute staff considerable discretion in selecting priorities for award among this set. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - January 29, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Robin Barr, Director of the Division of Extramural Activities Source Type: blogs
50 years in genetics
When I first entered my mentor Jim Watson’s office as a graduate student in ancient times (i.e., 1957), I saw a slip of paper fastened by scotch tape to the fluorescent light fixture over his desk. On it he had clearly printed in ink: DNA --> RNA --> protein. So, there it was—a clear guiding principle; a new science was starting. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - January 22, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: David Schlessinger, NIH Distinguished Investigator and Chief, Laboratory of Genetics, Intramural Research Program Source Type: blogs
Eligibility criteria change: NIA scientific resources
The NIA has invested heavily in resources to support the study of aging biology. In part, this is because the resources needed to conduct such research simply don’t exist elsewhere.
Recently, investigators using NIA biological resources have been affected by many new rules. The quick summary of these changes? Biological resources are now provided at no cost to researchers, but the eligibility criteria for use of the resources have necessarily been tightened. (Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers)
Source: Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers - January 15, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Nancy Nadon, Program Officer of the Biological Resources Program and Chief, Biological Resources Branch, Division of Aging Biology Source Type: blogs
