As the U.S. population gets older, UB draws on decades of aging-related research to launch a new initiative to meet the challenge.
It’s a demographic shift with major reverberations: The number of adults 65 years and older is increasing, and the U.S. must fast-track research that addresses their needs.
That’s why the University at Buffalo is undertaking a $4 million initiative to deepen and bolster our understanding of aging, leveraging its wide-ranging expertise in aging-related research.
“As a city that is home to minority and aging populations growing more rapidly than in other U.S. regions, Buffalo is uniquely positioned to be the place where innovations targeted to these communities should be developed and implemented,” said Allison Brashear, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.
The new initiative will allow UB to expand educational programming, enhance faculty recruitment and strengthen multidisciplinary research collaborations, all with the goal of generating solutions to address the physiological and societal elements of aging.
Many aging-related projects have been ongoing at UB for years, including:
Last December UB hosted the “Advancing Aging-Related Efforts” symposium to formally launch the initiative. More than 70 UB faculty projects on improving quality of life for aging Americans were featured, and Greg Olsen, acting director of the New York State Office for the Aging, served as keynote speaker to discuss Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Master Plan on Aging.
And this growing emphasis on aging-related research extends to the national level as well.
For example, the National Institute on Aging, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, is funding more than 7,000 aging-related projects for a total of $5.8 billion. This marks a doubling of funding in the past 10 years, and given UB’s extensive and long-standing engagement in aging-related research, the university is well-positioned to be part of that trajectory.
The No. 36 public university in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.
As an AAU member, recognized as one of the leading North American universities engaged in the highest levels of research.
No. 2 in the U.S. for climate action and No. 3 in the U.S. for industry, innovation and infrastructure, according to the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
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