Research
How individuals age will continue to be greatly impacted by the medical and health research being conducted today. While living well and exercising is important, many American are also counting on research to find new and better ways to treat, diagnose, prevent, and cure a number of diseases and disorders that present themselves as a person ages. The National Institute of Health (NIH) is key to advancing this research.
The Alliance for Aging Research believes that providing appropriate funding for the NIH is the only way that our country will be able to meet the health care challenges confronting it. Rather than debating how to cover the nation's health care bills, the dialogue needs to shift to how we prevent those bills in the first place. With the aging of the Baby Boom generation, this is more urgent than ever.
Related Events
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Obesity and Aging
January 13th, 2009, Washington, D.C.
Related Publications
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Press ReleaseExperts Call for Investing in Longevity Science
EXPERTS CALL FOR INVESTING IN LONGEVITY SCIENCE TO BOLSTER OLDER AMERICANS’ CONTRIBUTIONS
Alliance for Aging Research Offers New Podcasts on Web Site
WASHINGTON, D.C.— With the nation’s economy uppermost in many Americans’ minds, the Alliance for Aging Research explores the economic benefits from increased investment in longevity science in its most recent podcast series. The podcast series is part of the Alliance’s SAGE Crossroads website, a forum that explores emerging issues of human aging and longevity.
Millions of baby boomers will reach traditional retirement age soon, but they will continue to drive economic growth by starting new careers, continuing to pay taxes and investing, said Daniel Perry, executive director of the Alliance. “Aging of the population is not a problem so much as a series of opportunities,” said Perry in the podcast. “If we are going to make the most of those opportunities, we really need to reorient society to create more jobs and more opportunities for people after 65, whether it’s in the paid workforce or in these endless possibilities of volunteerism.”
Perry explained that through volunteer work, community involvement and continued participation in the workforce, the older population can make a huge impact on the economy. Investment in medical and behavioral research is necessary to ensure that the elderly are healthy enough to contribute to society.
Other experts who were interviewed for the series on longevity science include:
- Gregory Stock, Ph.D., CEO of Signum Biosciences;
- David Meltzer, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and an associate faculty member at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago;
- Robert W. Fogel, Ph.D., a Nobel Laureate and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business;
- Jay Olshansky, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health;
- Robert Butler, M.D., president and CEO of the International Longevity Center;
- Richard Miller, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of pathology and director of research at the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center; and
- John Q. Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research and Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Drug Discovery Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Another timely topic addressed in the podcasts, called SAGEcasts, is personalized medicine, which features David Merritt, project director at the Center for Health Transformation, and Dr. Greg Downing from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In podcast #34, Merritt discusses the advantages of a health information technology system that could support personalized medicine.
“We have technology at our fingertips that sometimes we take for granted, but in health care, we are at least a generation behind,” said Merritt. He believes that an electronic system connecting all stakeholders and patients will inevitably be created, but it may not happen for another 10 to 15 years.
Launched in March 2003 by the Alliance for Aging Research and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (publishers of Science Magazine), SAGE Crossroads provides policymakers, journalists and curious consumers with the opportunity to explore the impact of science and technology on aging. SAGEcasts spark discussions with experts on the ethical, political, economic, scientific and societal impacts of aging-related science.
To download the free SAGEcasts, visit http://www.sagecrossroads.net.
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Founded in 1986, the Alliance for Aging Research is a nonprofit, independent organization dedicated to improving the health and independence of aging Americans through public and private funding of medical research and geriatric education. The Alliance combines the interest of top scientists, public officials, business executives, and foundation leaders to promote a greater national investment in research and new technologies that will prepare our nation for the coming senior boom, and improve the quality of life for today’s older generation -
TestimonyFiscal Year 2008 Appropriations for the National Institute on Aging:
U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
Daniel Perry of the Alliance for Aging Research, and Carol Schutz of the Gerontological Society of America, submitted this testimony on behalf of the Friends of the National Institute on Aging. The testimony called for a 6.7% overall increase for the National Institutes of Health for FY 2008 and additional resources for NIA in order to avoid continued cuts in existing grants and to sustain training and research opportunities for new investigators. -
Press ReleasePresident's Budget Lacks Funds to Stem 'Silver Tsunami'
PRESIDENT’S BUDGET LACKS FUNDS TO STEM ‘SILVER TSUNAMI’ OF AGE-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES
WASHINGTON, DC –- The Alliance for Aging Research today warned that the president’s proposed FY 2008 budget lacks sufficient funding to address the growing burden of age-related chronic diseases.
“With the oldest of the 77 million baby boomers now in their 60s, now is the time to increase investment in medical research and innovation and to ensure that regulators have sufficient resources to expedite the review of therapies that target chronic diseases,” said Daniel Perry, executive director of the non-profit Alliance for Aging Research.
The Alliance calls it the “Silver Tsunami”—the rising tide of chronic diseases of aging that threatens to engulf American health care in the 21st Century. “For sheer size, economic impact and lack of precedent, the Silver Tsunami stands alone,” explained Perry. “Unlike bird flu or exotic infectious diseases that may come to our shores, a tidal wave of chronic illnesses and disabilities is a certainty with the aging of America’s baby boom generation.”
Already it is estimated that nearly half of all Americans have a least one chronic disease. One in four has multiple chronic infirmities such as arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure. Just five diseases – heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s – cost the U.S. $771 billion each year.
In particular, the Alliance believes the administration’s proposed budget lacks sufficient funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to address the growing burden of chronic diseases.
The president’s budget proposal includes an increase in NIH budget authority of $232 million over the administration’s estimate for FY 2007. However, taking into account the Joint Funding Resolution for FY 2007 currently before Congress and other funding obligations, the president’s proposal would actually result in a $511 million reduction in funding for the NIH.
The administration’s proposal also includes a $125 million increase over the FY 2007 Joint Funding Resolution for the FDA. Although this is a step in the right direction, it falls short in addressing key areas that would allow FDA to modernize, innovate, and adapt to changing science.
The Alliance will work in collaboration with other organizations to educate Congress about the need to increase funding for these critical agencies.
“Although there is a lot of effort focused on reducing the costs of caring for Medicare patients, we will only see real progress by reducing the impact of disease and that requires increased investment in research,” said Perry. “Our best defense against the Silver Tsunami is to play to America’s strengths in scientific innovation and technological ingenuity. Many scientists believe that if research is adequately funded, it is realistic to expect cures, preventions and disease-modifying strategies to emerge in the years ahead.”
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Founded in 1986, the Alliance for Aging Research is a nonprofit, independent organization dedicated to improving the health and independence of aging Americans through public and private funding of medical research and geriatric education. The Alliance combines the interest of top scientists, public officials, business executives, and foundation leaders to promote a greater national investment in research and new technologies that will prepare our nation for the coming senior boom, and improve the quality of life for today’s older generation
