Overview

The specific aims of the USC/UCLA Center on BPH are

• to support pilot projects and on-going bio-demographic research that integrates epidemiological, medical, and biological information with the demographic perspective on population health,
• to develop models of population health outcomes that will clarify the effects of changes in risk factors and interventions on population health;
• to assemble a team of investigators that joins demographers with researchers from other disciplines to focus on demographic models of population health,
• to disseminate results of Center work to - and integrate work from - a network of related researchers and policy makers .

The research supported by this center should lead to a better understanding of:

• the effects of social, behavioral, biological, and medical factors on population health outcomes,
• the interdependence of health outcomes including chronic diseases, functioning changes, disability and mortality,
• potential changes in the rates of disease and functioning problems in the aging population in the future,
• the causes of observed racial, socioeconomic, and gender differences in population health at the older ages.

The administrative structure of the Center consists of a director or a co-director at each site. There is also an associate director at each site. These four persons and one additional person from each site serve as the Executive Committee for the Center.

Activities of the center include supporting pilot research studies, training students in research methods, and hosting workshops related to the biodemography of aging.

Persons interesting in participating in research or workshops of the center should contact Eileen Crimmins (crimmin@usc.edu)