Aligned with the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Healthy Longevity Global Competition initiative launched in 2019, NIA has announced seven Innovations to Foster Healthy Longevity in Low-Income Settings awards. This new NIA support is aimed at improving the functioning and quality of life for older adult populations, particularly the disabled, living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); and low-income, disabled, and isolated older populations living in high-income countries.
The NIA awards will provide each grant recipient up to $50,000 for each of the two years. The awarded institutions and topics covered are as follows:
- Duke University: Preventing disability from musculoskeletal pain in Northern Tanzania
- University of Arizona: Contextual adaptation of evidence-based community Yoga intervention to address physical and mental health needs in India
- University of Central Florida: Reducing fall risk in low-resource neighborhoods in the United States using sensor monitoring/AI and tele-nurse support
- University of Pennsylvania (1): Improve physical activity and reducing fall risk in the U.S. using fall risk and fear of falling assessments
- University of Pennsylvania (2): Leveraging social networks and linkage to care to foster healthy aging in a low-income context in Sub-Saharan Africa
- University of Pittsburgh: Prevent adverse physical, social, psychosocial, and economic consequences of wheelchair breakdowns in El Salvador via sensor and artificial intelligence to signal repair
- Virginia Commonwealth: Technology-based fall risk assessments for older adults in U.S. low-income settings
“The goal for these new awards is to advance innovative and efficient solutions to support healthy aging,” said John W. R. Phillips, Ph.D., chief, Population and Social Processes Branch, NIA Division of Behavioral and Social Research. “The NIA awardees will have the opportunity to work with global competition awardees from around the world on further efforts to yield meaningful benefits for older adults in low income settings world-wide.”
The Healthy Longevity Global Competition is designed to extend the human healthspan by accelerating research, innovation, and entrepreneurism in healthy longevity. Other participating organizations include the Academia Sinica of Taiwan; Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development; Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; EIT Health (supported by EIT, a body of the European Union); Ministry of Health and National Research Foundation of Singapore; United Kingdom Research and Innovation; and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (supported by Johnson & Johnson Innovation).