2004 News Archives

Senior Standing
03/12/04

A new institute at USC will expand aging research at the university, focusing on three vital areas — lab studies, genetics and independent living by the elderly. A priority for the institute will be boosting the number of grants in fields such as biology, robotics and sciences.

Finch and Crimmins will direct the USC Andrus Institute for Research on Aging.

The USC Andrus Gerontology Center has joined with the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences to establish a new research institute that will examine emerging issues for seniors, it was announced today.
Professors Caleb Finch and Eileen Crimmins will direct the USC Andrus Institute for Research on Aging (AIRA), which will expand and concentrate aging research at the university.

The AIRA program initially will focus on three areas of research related to aging:

• laboratory studies of gene systems and the integrated biology of aging;

• socio-demographic-genetic studies of health and aging; and

• engineering the home and environment for independent living by the elderly.

Besides ongoing research and training in the USC Davis School of Gerontology, the USC College already has aging as a focus of graduate programs in its departments of biological sciences, psychology and sociology, according to Finch and Crimmins.

“We will also expand the institute’s programs to embrace engineering, health sciences and, potentially economics, journalism, architecture, business and law,” Finch said.

Finch, a University Professor and holder of the ARCO/William F. Kieschnick Chair in the Neurobiology of Aging, and Crimmins, holder of the Edna M. Jones Chair in Gerontology, exemplify the principles of working across traditional academic boundaries.

Between them, the duo has joint appointments and research programs that span many disciplines in the college departments — anthropology, biological sciences, psychology, sociology — and in the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s departments of physiology and neurology.

“Health and mental capacity at later ages derive from long-term interactions, from the molecular to the societal,” Finch said.

“For example, life span after age 75 is more strongly influenced by social interactions than by family genes. On the other hand, the egg we come from is formed in our mother’s ovary before she was born. A comprehensive view of aging requires that we integrate our research not only across disciplines, but across generations.”

“The perspective that aging is very complex is held across USC,” said Joseph Aoun, dean of the college and the Anna H. Bing Professor. “This new institute is a model for interdisciplinary studies among schools. It has the potential to bring together diverse talents from across the entire spectrum of the university.”

Finch noted that there are numerous major research programs throughout USC, as well as in other area institutions.

“We will draw on all of these programs for the AIRA,” he said.

An immediate goal of the institute will be to expand the number of aging-related research and training grants in fields such as cognitive sciences, demography, genomics and integrative biology, robotics and neural prostheses.

“It is likely,” Finch said, “that increased funding from federal and industry sources will be available for health research and training that targets the aging population, whether for cancer, dementia or vascular disease.”

To launch the institute, faculty members for an advisory committee on aging will be appointed to initiate faculty recruitment and coordinate gerontology research and training across USC.

Junior and senior faculty will be recruited with joint appointments in the School of Gerontology and the college. New degree programs are under consideration, including some targeted at professionals planning careers in biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

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