NIH awards $10.4 million grant to Tulane Center for Aging
Tulane University"s Center for Aging has received a $10.4 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health to develop the careers of promising young scientists in the field of biomedical aging research.
The grant, known as a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) award, will support the aging-related research of five junior faculty from three different schools within Tulane. Centers of Biomedical Excellence led by NIH-funded investigators develop and strengthen an institution"s biomedical research capabilities by enhancing research infrastructure and promoting collaborative efforts among researchers.
“The five projects in this COBRE focus on several complementary themes that contribute to our understanding of aging, from basic genetic and epigenetic contributions through cardiovascular and neurocognitive mechanisms,” says S. Michal Jazwinski, the John W. Deming, MD Regents Chair in Aging and director of the Tulane Center for Aging, who is also the principal investigator for the grant. “Three of the projects feature human aging, one focuses on rodent models and one utilizes cultured cells.”
Established by Jazwinski five years ago, the Tulane Center for Aging provides an interdisciplinary environment for research involving numerous faculty in eight of the schools at Tulane University.
The five-year grant will enable the Tulane Center for Aging to nurture a new generation of biomedical aging researchers. Experienced senior researchers will mentor junior research scientists, providing career development advice as well as practical advice on scientific development and laboratory management. Career development activities for the young faculty members will include regular program meetings, grant-writing lessons and multidisciplinary seminars with other members of the Center. The grant will also enhance age-related gene research laboratory facilities at the Tulane Center for Aging.
“This COBRE will represent the centerpiece of the Tulane Center for Aging alongside our interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in aging studies, and it will contribute strongly to our building an exceptional biomedical aging research enterprise in Louisiana,” says Jazwinski.
