Medical problems associated with aging are pursued in depth using the tools of modern laboratory and clinical research. The central focus of our research is understanding age-related changes in physiology and the ability to adapt to environmental stress. This understanding is then applied to developing insight about the pathophysiology of age-related diseases. The program seeks to understand the changes associated with healthy aging and to define the criteria for evaluating when a change becomes pathologic. Thus, not only are the common age-related diseases under study (e.g., Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, stroke, atherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, diabetes, cancer), but the determinants of healthy aging are also being defined.

IRP research is conducted in several sites; most of the laboratories are based at the Biomedical Research Center and Gerontology Research Center on the Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus in Baltimore, Maryland. The Clinical Research Branch's Advanced Studies in Translational Research on Aging (ASTRA) Unit is located at Harbor Hospital, a few miles south of the Bayview Campus in Baltimore, Maryland. The section of Brain Physiology and Metabolism and the Laboratory of Neurogenetics are located on the NIH main campus in Bethesda, and the Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry is located in the Gateway Building in Bethesda.

The IRP provides a stimulating academic setting for a comprehensive effort to understand aging through multidisciplinary investigator-initiated research. In addition, an effort is made to encourage synergistic interaction and collaboration through interlaboratory collaboration. The program offers many excellent training opportunities in both laboratory and clinical medicine with a wealth of valuable resources. The NIA is committed to training researchers for lifetime careers in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.

Laboratories:

• Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science
• Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology
• Laboratory of Clinical Investigation
• Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry
• Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology
• Laboratory of Genetics
• Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology
• Laboratory of Neurogenetics
• Laboratory of Neurosciences
• Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience
• Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section
• Molecular Dynamics Section olism Section
• Molecular Dynamics Section