CURE 2020 Non-Formula Priority Biology of Aging Call for Concepts

he research priority for the CURE 2020 Non-Formula Request for Applications is Biology of Aging. All funds must support biomedical research and/or clinical research, and/or health services research. At least 50 percent of the funds must be spent on clinical research and/or health services research.

The following research areas will not be supported:

• Design and development of tissue banks
• Projects focused primarily on the mechanisms or treatment of a particular age-related disease (i.e., Alzheimer’s, cancer) without also establishing a connection to the fundamental biology of aging
• Studies that solely focus on the prevalence or natural history of a disease/condition in the elderly
• Implementations science studies that focus on health care delivery for the elderly

As this topic is quite broad and research questions that focus on specific diseases will not be competitive, we are calling for concept papers that would develop teams around focal points, such as biomarkers, pharmacogenomics, metabolomics, microbiome, or central regulators of aging such as telomeres, nutrient sensing, circadian clock. Other interdisciplinary themes could also engage Penn State researchers in a meaningful, synergistic manner including: environmental (pollutants, stressors, calorie restriction) and lifestyle/behavioral factors (e.g., sleep; mindfulness practice) that impact aging or the using high precision and deep phenotyping to inform the study of biological aging. Thus, we are seeking interdisciplinary teams with expertise able to incorporate multiple levels of analysis, from the genetic to the zip code.

More specific topics may include:

• Research aimed at identifying the central regulator(s) of human aging
• Elucidation of new biomarkers for who is aging “well” and who is aging “poorly”
• Research aimed at understanding the molecular basis of human resilience, namely why, with age, our capacity to respond to various physiological stressors is reduced
• Research aimed at understanding why many chronic diseases seem to accelerate the underlying process of aging
• Studies aimed at understanding how age-related changes in the immune system predispose for the development of chronic diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and others
• Studies to identify preventive measures, including vaccines, that extend healthspan
• Work aimed at understanding why chronological aging makes us more susceptible to disease
• Studies to determine whether drugs already approved can be “re-purposed” to target underlying mechanisms of aging and whether these agents prevent disease onset and/or the deleterious consequences of aging
• Research that evaluates age as a variable in animal models of specific chronic diseases
• Better understanding of the molecular pathways that might accelerate the aging process in people exposed to early forms of chronic illnesses (e.g., chemotherapy in children, HIV in young adults)
• Research on pharmacogenomics a people age and how older individuals may differ in the absorption and metabolism of given drugs
• Studies of individuals with conditions associated with premature aging, like progeria
• Research to elucidate accurate and predictive measurements of resilience at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels
• Investigations that seek to determine how particular chronic diseases affect not only the primary organ system involved in the disease but also how additional organ systems may be affected
• Studies to identify mechanistic links between aging and chronic diseases
• Systems-level studies of the types of macromolecular damage and their roles in chronic disease
• Studies to elucidate the role of the microbiome in aging
• Strategies to capture longitudinal parameters of aging beyond specific diseases in the electronic health record (EHR) such as muscle strength, walking speed, and cognitive function.
• Testing whether clinical interventions targeting the central regulation of aging postpone or prevent age-related chronic diseases

The Request for Applications is likely to be released sometime in the next 5-8 months, with a quick turnaround, and a start date of June 1, 2021. We expect that Penn State will be allowed to submit only one proposal as the lead investigator and that the research team will be required to involve collaborator(s) from another health research institutions in Pennsylvania. Successful proposals will also engage minority serving institutions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and propose to provide research training opportunities from students at these institutions. Total budgets are likely not to exceed $4,000,000.