RESEARCH ‘Innovative Research in Aging’ Pilot Grant Program In partnership with the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Center has funded five pilot grants for a total of $200,000 to unite investigators interested in aging research and to provide seed monies for high-risk, early-stage aging research:
Enriching Experiences for Healthy Aging: Measuring Enhanced Well-Being for People With Cognitive Impairments and Their Informal Caregivers Through the Analysis of Telomere Length Meara Faw, Deana Davalos, Jennifer Cross, Laura Malinin, Susan Bailey, Wendy Wood, Agnieszka Burzynska, Lindsey Wilhelm; departments of Communication Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Design and Merchandising, Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Human Development and Family Studies, Music In this project, researchers examined the effects of enriching experiences, such as attending symphony concerts, live theater events, and dance performances, on cognition and telomere length in adults with dementia and their caregivers. Telomeres, the caps at the ends of chromosomes, are known to shorten with age, contributing to the onset of disease and increased mortality. Preliminary data from the study suggests that adults who attended more social events showed promising changes in their telomere lengths when compared with those who attended fewer events. The team also found associations within caregiver-care recipient dyads, with their changes in telomere length mirroring one another over time. Faw says the team hopes to further unpack these findings in a larger project that examines cognitive test results and social well-being measures in conjunction with changes in telomere length among participants.
Tissue Engineering Strategies for Promoting Rapid Fracture Healing in Osteoporotic Bone Nicole Ehrhart, Christian Puttlitz, David Prawel, Gerrit Bouma, Jeremiah Easley; departments of Clinical Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Sciences As the population ages, osteoporosis is emerging as a major public health problem, affecting both women and men and incurring $13.8 billion in direct medical costs per year. This unmet clinical need has garnered significant interest in the application of tissue engineering strategies to stimulate bone repair. In this project, the investigators sought to improve osteoporotic fracture healing using orthobiologic and osteoconductive technologies, which are biological and bioengineered substances that help musculoskeletal injuries heal quicker by improving the ability of cells to form new bone over time. The team designed 3D scaffolds made of mesenchymal stromal cells and studied the exosomes derived by the cells to see whether the cells secreted pro-regenerative signals that promoted fracture healing in a sheep model of osteoporosis. Results found some indication of bone-forming biologic activity across the 3D scaffolds, but no significant increase in mechanical stiffness, bone density, or bone area with the addition of stem cells or stem-cell-derived exosomes. The investigators are submitting a manuscript of their findings in early 2021 and are targeting a National Institutes of Health R01 grant submission to optimize their 3D scaffold in future studies.
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Columbine Health Systems Center for Healthy Aging
