Geriatrics Branch

The Geriatrics Branch supports research aimed at improving health, function and quality of life of older persons. Research emphases include:

• Multifactorial geriatric syndromes such as risk for falls.
• Symptomatic problems such as pain and fatigue.
• Various types of disability.
• Effects and interactions of multiple chronic conditions and development of effective treatment strategies for patients with multiple chronic conditions.
• Effects of age-related changes on clinical or functional disease outcomes or treatment responses.
• Effects of physical activity on disease and disability in older persons; and the elucidation, diagnosis, and treatment of previously unappreciated pathologic changes in old age (e.g., sarcopenia, vascular stiffening, diastolic dysfunction).

The Geriatrics Branch also supports the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs) which conduct basic and clinical research to develop more effective interventions to enhance the ability of older people to maintain independence. The Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists' Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR are also part of the Geriatrics Branch portifolio. The goal of this initiative is to promote research conducted by early stage physicians trained in medical or surgical specialties who are entering careers as clinician-scientists in aging-related aspects of their specialty.