Fall 2009
e-Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 3
The Science of Healthier Aging
1. Thoughts from AFAR - A Note from the Executive
Director ____________________________________________ Thoughts from AFAR - A Note from the Executive Director
We are pleased to fund a wide variety
of ground-breaking research on the biology of aging that will help us understand the etiology of many of the
diseases of aging. Our programs also support the training of medical students in geriatric medicine and support
physician-scientists who devote their careers to advancing scientific knowledge and strategies for prevention
and management of age-related diseases and disabilities.
This diversified grants portfolio supporting basic research, while also addressing growing public health
needs, makes AFAR unique. Our programs encourage innovative research that make an impact; translating into
advances that may offer potential therapies to delay, prevent, and treat common and debilitating diseases of
aging.
We wish to thank our esteemed review committees for helping us identify the best science. The AFAR
National Scientific Advisory Council, consisting of more than 300 of the nation's leading researchers in aging
and age-related fields, volunteer their time to carefully consider each proposal's scientific merit. Members
of this panel make their recommendations to the AFAR Research Committee, chaired by Roger McCarter, PhD,
professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University - which renders the final selections. We
wish to acknowledge Roger as well as Steve Austad, PhD, professor at the University of Texas Health Science
Center at San Antonio, Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, who leads the review of AFAR's
postdoctoral grants program. We also wish to extend our gratitude to Edward Koo, MD, professor at the
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, who chairs our Beeson Career Development Award Program
Advisory Committee and Anita Woods, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine,
who chairs the Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program National Selection Committee.
We invite you to join us in our efforts to help us all live healthier longer.
____________________________________________ American Federation for Aging Research Awards $11 Million in Grants This year, the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) in partnership with foundations, corporations and the National Institute on Aging, as well as through the support of generous individuals, has awarded approximately $11 million to 186 early and mid-career scientists and medical students through its series of grants programs. More than 2,600 researchers have been recipients of AFAR-supported programs, many of whom have gone on to distinguish themselves as leaders in the field of aging research. Approximately $124 million has been awarded since AFAR's inception in 1981.
Sixteen scientists were awarded AFAR Research Grants, AFAR's flagship program, which provides $75,000 awards to promising junior faculty MDs and PhDs to conduct research in the basic biology of aging and age-related diseases.
"This year's award winners provide a truly impressive display of new investigators in the field of aging research," said Dr. Roger McCarter. "The relevance of current research on aging to many of the problems facing our society has resulted in increased awareness by the public and the scientific communities of the importance of healthy aging. The researchers selected by the AFAR research committee represent the best and brightest talent. Their activities will enable a greater understanding of the effects and interconnections of basic aging processes to many other diseases of aging."
Click here to read about the 2009 AFAR Research Grant recipients.
_____________________________________________ The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation and AFAR Award Grants to Scientists
Studying the Earliest Brain Changes that Could Lead to Alzheimer's Disease
Five scientists were awarded The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease. The $75,000 awards provide a broad array of funding in the biological, genetic, and environmental causes of AD. By studying the early changes suggesting Alzheimer's disease from different but complementary angles, the awards seek to accelerate development of diagnostic, preventative interventions, and treatments. The program, now in its third year, has provided more than $1 million to 16 scientists in the U.S. and Israel.
_____________________________________________ The Ellison Medical Foundation and AFAR Award More than $1 Million to
Mid-Career Scientists Studying Biology of Aging Processes Charleen T. Chu, MD, PhD, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh and David M. Sabatini, MD, PhD, associate professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received the 2009 Julie Martin Mid-Career Awards in Aging Research. Read more about their research here. Sponsored by The Ellison Medical Foundation, the grants provide funding of $550,000 to mid-career scientists whose research has great potential in advancing understanding of basic aging and its impact on age-related diseases. Through a partnership with the American Federation for Aging Research established in 2005, The Ellison Medical Foundation has disbursed $4.4 million to eight researchers to date.
_____________________________________________ Eight Scientists Named Beeson Scholars Will Receive More Than $6 Million to Support Careers on Age-Related Diseases and Clinical Care National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke Join Prestigious Partnership; The John A. Hartford Foundation Renews their Commitment to Longstanding Program
We are pleased to announce the 2009 recipients of the Paul B. Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research Program. This new cohort brings the total to 157 scholars who have been selected for this highly competitive and prestigious award, which seeks to create a cadre of clinically trained faculty who are committed to academic careers in aging research, teaching, and practice.
Since the program's inception in 1995, Beeson Scholars have received more than $86 million in research grant support and have made their mark with innovative research--from the effects of depression in elderly health outcomes, to the connection between a certain type of cataract and Alzheimer's disease, to the development of new animal models to study the genetic basis of aging, to improving end-of-life care for under-served aging populations.
The Beeson program has become a model of cooperation between foundations and government entities. To that end, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) announced that they would join as program partners beginning in 2010. The John A. Hartford Foundation has renewed its support through 2012.
Learn more about the 2009 Beeson Scholars.
The Paul B. Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research Program is sponsored by the NIA, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The John A. Hartford Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke, The Starr Foundation and an anonymous donor, and is administered by the NIA and AFAR. The program is named in honor of the late Paul B. Beeson, MD, who was professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Washington, and whose vision was to increase the number of physicians with a combined clinical, academic, and scientific expertise to care for a growing older population. Visit www.beeson.org.
_____________________________________________ $900,000 Awarded to Irish Scientists Studying the Role of Aging Processes on Nerve Function and Inflammatory Disease The American Federation for Aging Research, The Atlantic Philanthropies and The Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) awarded two researchers the Paul Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research for the Island of Ireland. This grant program advances the work of leading early-career physician-scientists throughout the Island of Ireland, cultivating lifetime careers in aging-related science and medicine.
Chie Wei Fan, MB, MRCPI, MD, Clinical Director of Technology Research for Independent Living Clinic and Senior Research Fellow, St. James' Hospital, and Ronan Mullan, MB ChB, BSc, PhD, Specialist Registrar in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine, University College Dublin, are the recipients of the Beeson Award in Ireland, which was first launched in 2007. They will each receive a grant of $450,000 to fund their research over a three-year period. Dr. Fan's research, Age-related Autonomic Dysfunction and its Impact on Cognition, Gait and Falls, will investigate how age affects the autonomic nervous system, and its influence on the cognitive and motor skills of older adults. Dr. Mullan's Research, Acute Phase Serum Amyloid-A (A-SAA) in Ageing, Arthritis and Obesity- Potential Common Mechanism for Cardiovascular Disease, will seek to understand the role A-SAA--a plasma protein that is associated with many inflammatory diseases--plays in rheumatoid arthritis, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in an aging population.
Read more here.
_____________________________________________ BIG Research Could Identify Ways to Combat Oxidative Damage Effects Linked to Aging and Mechanisms Underlying Caloric Restriction Benefits in Humans Two Researchers Selected for $200,000 Prize
Rochelle Buffenstein, PhD, professor, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Luigi Fontana, MD, PhD, research associate professor, Washington University in St. Louis, were selected as the 2009 recipients of the Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award sponsored by the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR). Established in 2005, the BIG Award provides $200,000 grants for high risk, original research that offers significant promise of yielding transforming discoveries in the fundamental biology of aging.
_____________________________________________ MetLife Foundation Awards $200,000 Grant to Provide Geriatrics Training to Medical Students The American Federation for Aging Research announces that it has been awarded a $200,000 grant from MetLife Foundation for its Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program. The funding will provide 50 medical students with the opportunity to participate in an eight- to twelve-week research, educational, and clinical mentorship program alongside top experts at some of the leading academic institutions in the country.
Read more here.
_____________________________________________ American Federation for Aging Research Honors Today's and Tomorrow's Leaders in Aging Research Woodring E. Wright, MD, PhD, professor of Cell Biology at the UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Brian K. Kennedy, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington, were selected as the 2009 recipients of the American Federation for Aging Research Irving S. Wright Award and the Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star in Aging Research Award, respectively. To learn more about these honored scientists, click here.
2. AFAR Awards $11 Million in Grants
3. The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation and AFAR Award Grants to Scientists Studying the Earliest Brain Changes that Could Lead to Alzheimer's Disease
4. The Ellison Medical Foundation and AFAR Award More than $1 Million to Mid-Career Scientists Studying Biology of Aging Processes
5. Eight Scientists Named Beeson Scholars Will Receive More Than $6 Million to Support Research on Age-Related Diseases and Clinical Care
6. $900,000 Awarded to Irish Scientists Studying the Role of Aging Processes on Nerve Function and Inflammatory Disease
7. BIG Research Could Identify Ways to Combat Oxidative Damage Effects Linked to Aging and Mechanisms Underlying Caloric Restriction Benefits in Humans
8. MetLife Foundation Awards $200,000 Grant to Provide Geriatrics Training to Medical Students
9. American Federation for Aging Research Honors Today's and Tomorrow's Leaders in Aging Research
Rochelle Buffenstein, PhD
Luigi Fontana, MD, PhD
Brian K. Kennedy, PhD
Woodring E. Wright, MD, PhD
_____________________________________________
Upcoming Open Conferences in Aging Research
Keystone Symposia (www.keystonesymposia.org) has a number of exciting upcoming conferences featuring top research in the field of aging:
"Alzheimer's Disease Beyond Abeta" will be held at the Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, January 10-15, 2010.
Read more about the program here.
"New Insights into Healthspan and Diseases of Aging: From Molecular to Functional Senescence" will include featured speakers Dr. David Sinclair and Dr. Ana Maria Cuervo, both 2000 AFAR Research Grant recipients, and AFAR Scientific Director Dr. George Martin. This conference will take place in Tahoe City, California at the Granlibakken Resort January 31-Feburary 5, 2010. Click here to download the conference flyer or view the full program here.
_____________________________________________
AFAR would like to thank the sponsors of its grant programs:
AFAR Research Grants
AFAR Board of Directors
Anonymous
Dorothy Dillon Eweson Endowment
The Glenn Foundation for Medical Research
The Partners of Goldman Sachs & Company
David W. Gore
F.M. Kirby Foundation, Inc.
Neurosciences Education and Research Foundation
Diane Nixon
Pfizer Inc.
The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation
Joseph L.K. Snyder Trust
The Starr Foundation
The Irving S. Wright Endowment
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Julie Martin Mid-Career Awards in Aging Research
The Ellison Medical Foundation
Glenn/AFAR Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Awards
The Glenn Foundation for Medical Research
Paul Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research
National Institute on Aging
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
The Atlantic Philanthropies
The John A. Hartford Foundation
The Starr Foundation
The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
and an anonymous donor
Paul Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research Program for the Island of Ireland
The Atlantic Philanthropies
Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Postdoctoral Fellows in Aging Research Program
The Ellison Medical Foundation
Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program
National Institute on Aging
The John A. Hartford Foundation
MetLife Foundation
Lillian R. Gleitsman Foundation
Community Health Foundation of Western and Central New York
Henry Adelman Fund for Medical Student Education
(Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology at Weill Cornell Medical College)
Carmen Pettapiece DO Student Research Fund
Complete information about AFAR grant programs, recipients, and sponsors can be found on the AFAR web site www.afar.org/grants.html.
American Federation for Aging Research
55 West 39th Street, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10018
(212) 703-9977
info@afar.org
grants@afar.org
www.afar.org
www.infoaging.org
The American Federation for Aging Research is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support biomedical research on aging. It is devoted to creating the knowledge that all of us need to live healthy, productive, and independent lives. Since 1981, AFAR has awarded approximately $124 million to more than 2,600 early and mid-career scientists and medical students as part of its broad-based series of grant programs. Its work has led to significant advances in our understanding of aging processes, age-related diseases, and healthy aging practices. AFAR communicates news of these innovations through its organizational web site www.afar.org and educational web sites Infoaging (www.infoaging.org) and Health Compass (www.healthcompass.org).
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