The Center, which specializes in Precision Gerontology, plans interdisciplinary expansion to Storrs
The leaders of the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at UConn Health in Farmington. The National Institutes of Health has extended the Center for a further five years. Contributed photo.
The National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has extended its grant for UConn's prestigious Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, supporting the program through 2031. The $6.6 million grant will allow the Center to further its goal of not only adding years to older adults' lives, but also ensuring that those extra years are well lived through improved understanding of the human aging process.
UConn is one of only 15 universities nationwide with a Pepper Center, whose namesake was a Florida congressman who advocated for seniors' rights to healthcare and independence. The Center was founded in 2021 through an initial $7 million NIH grant and opened at UConn Health in Farmington. It partners with the Jackson Laboratory, also located on the UConn Health campus.
"The renewal of the Pepper Center award demonstrates UConn Health and UConn's outstanding commitment to supporting and promoting the mechanisms of aging and effective interventions to facilitate health throughout life," says Lindsay DiStefano, UConn's vice president for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. "Studying the mechanisms of aging provides incredible opportunities to better understand disease evolution, key markers for diagnostics, and new targets for treatments. This new award will allow us to expand the reach of the Pepper Center across the institution to the Storrs campus and beyond."
Each Pepper Center conducts a broad range of research to better understand the aging process and help older adults live independently. Specifically, UConn's Center focuses on the heterogeneity of aging, using research strategies including basic bench research, observational human subject studies including clinical trials, and analysis of large population-level datasets, as ways to help design and carry out interventions that are more effective by being better targeted.
"How we age varies tremendously," says Dr. George Kuchel, co-director of the Pepper Center and the Travelers Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology at UConn School of Medicine. "We see this within our families, our neighbors, and our friends. Some people seem to age much more quickly, where in their 40s or 50s they look like someone in their 60s, whereas someone in their 80s or 90s might look like they are in their 50s or 60s and remain highly functional and independent. So, we have become extremely interested in this heterogeneity in aging in all its dimensions."
The science is highly multidisciplinary given the broad range of factors that influence the nature and pace of aging in each individual. Beyond inherited factors, biological aging and its influences on various chronic diseases of aging are affected by potentially modifiable factors ranging from diet, physical activity, sleep and varied medications to behavioral and socio-economic considerations.
"The UConn Pepper Center's theme of precision gerontology applies a multidisciplinary approach to better understand the heterogeneity of aging in all its dimensions and use this information to guide the design and application of interventions promoting function and independence in older adults," says Kuchel. "The UConn Center on Aging, where the UConn Pepper Center is based, is also a leader in geroscience research, focused on efforts to delay the onset and progression of multiple chronic diseases by targeting biological aging. Our Pepper Center's focus on precision gerontology very much includes our work in geroscience. Nonetheless, it is much broader by also encompassing a range of social, behavioral, implementation and health policy aspects required to ensure increasing health and independence in older Americans."
Dr. Richard Fortinsky, Health Net Inc. Endowed Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology at the UConn School of Medicine and co-Director of the UConn Pepper Center, adds that the Center provides meaningful opportunities for early-career researchers.
"Another important feature of the UConn Pepper Center is to provide research support and career development guidance to early-career faculty members at UConn conducting state-of-the-art research in the aging field," says Fortinsky. "We are very proud that several faculty members who have received Pepper Center support have gone on to secure competitive research grants as independent investigators from the NIH and other funding agencies. We look forward to supporting many new faculty members over the next five years."
A New Chapter for the UConn Pepper Center
With extended funding in place, the UConn Pepper Center will move forward with plans to make the Center a more interdisciplinary effort, extending research and clinical care beyond Farmington to include Storrs and regional campuses.
For a small state, there is significant distance between UConn Health in Farmington, home to the School of Medicine and related clinical practices, and UConn Storrs in northeastern Connecticut. Kuchel says that is notable since numerous disciplines with importance to gerontology research - such as kinesiology, physical therapy, psychology, pharmacy, nutritional sciences, statistics, engineering and nursing - are based in Storrs.
By adding parallel research programs at both locations, and eventually to regional campuses such as Hartford and Waterbury, UConn opens new possibilities to patients in different regions. Interdisciplinary opportunities will expand as programs welcome more patients and participants into research on aging.
For the next phase of the grant, Kuchel will continue as the co-lead PI, along with Dr. Fortinsky as well as Dr. Lisa Barry, a professor of psychiatry and chronic disease epidemiologist.
"I am excited to take on this leadership role as the UConn Pepper Center expands interdisciplinary partnerships across the university," says Barry. "In addition to advancing innovative aging research, we also have a tremendous opportunity to foster the next generation of investigators committed to improving the health, function, and independence of older adults."
To expand disciplines, the Center is adding Dr. Nancy Redeker of the Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing to the steering committee, along with professor of gerontology Keith Bellizzi of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences. Kuchel says the new leaders will help strategically plan research and services in Storrs to parallel those offered in Farmington, opening opportunities for different populations and improving the ability to serve more individuals across a broader range of communities within our state.
The Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing is nearing completion of a brand-new building in Storrs, expected to open in early 2027. The Pepper Center will have new space within the building to conduct research and clinical trials.
Redeker, the nursing school's senior associate dean for research and scholarship, is joining the Pepper Center as an expert in sleep and sleep disorders. She says she looks forward to supporting scientific advances in aging and supporting the development of emerging scholars.
"My 30-year program of research has focused on understanding and addressing sleep health among people with heart failure, stroke, opioid use disorder, and cancer - all of which have implications for the health of older people and may also accelerate the process of aging beginning early in life," says Redeker.
The NIH issued the following disclaimer regarding the award:
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute On Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P30AG067988. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
