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Other NIA-Supported Studies

This list is not exhaustive. For further information, see nia.nih.gov.

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Behavioral and Social Research Data

The Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Aging and Dementia (IALSA) research network was established in 2005 to facilitate interdisciplinary, cross-national research on determinants and dynamics of within-person aging-related changes in cognitive and physical capabilities, health, personality, and well-being. The network comprises investigators associated with over 100 longitudinal studies on aging and dementia. A key feature of the IALSA network is the optimization and evaluation of the reproducibility of results from longitudinal and life course studies, achieved through a coordinated analysis approach based on comparable statistical models and measurements. Network activities encourage the examination of cross-cultural and cross-cohort effects and synthesis of results across longitudinal studies. Additional information is available at https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/resource/integrative-analysis-longitudinal-studies-aging-ialsa
HRS is the platform that is representative for the entire U.S. population aged 50 and over, with periodic refreshment of birth cohorts newly reaching ages 50-54. The age cutoff was originally selected to enable following of people who were still working and still healthy through the full retirement period, as well as of people before onset of chronic diseases and disability until (and beyond) death. For cohorts entering HRS, including the first, only the noninstitutionalized population was sampled; however, HRS follows participants wherever they move, and so now includes a representative sample of older people in all living situations. Crucially for studies of health disparities, HRS has a proportionate sample of people with low income and low educational attainment, and overrepresentation of African Americans and Hispanics. Additional information is available at https://hrs.isr.umich.edu/
The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is especially valuable for studies of family and household dynamics because it has followed family members since 1968 through moves and household formation and dissolution. is the PSID is not exclusively dedicated to aging and health, but does explore aging-related topics. Additional information is available at https://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/
The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) is especially adapted for study of intimate and social relations, and ego-reported (but detailed) social network data. It also has performance and biomarker data. Additional information is available at https://www.norc.org/research/projects/national-social-life-health-and-aging-project.html
The National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) is a resource for the scientific study of functioning in later life. The NHATS is being conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, with data collection by Westat, and support from the NIA. In design and content, NHATS is intended to foster research that will guide efforts to reduce disability, maximize health and independent functioning, and enhance quality of life at older ages. Additional information is available at https://www.nhats.org/
The Gateway to Global Aging is a platform for population survey data on aging around the world. It includes a digital library of survey questions, a search for finding comparable questions across surveys, and identically defined variables for cross-country analysis. Additional information is available at https://g2aging.org/home
The Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) is a multidisciplinary and cross-national panel database of micro data on health, socio-economic status and social and family networks of more than 120,000 individuals aged 50 or older. SHARE covers 27 European countries and Israel. Additional information is available at https://share-eric.eu/
The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) is a long-term study of a random sample of 10,317 men and women who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. The WLS provides an opportunity to study the life course, intergenerational transfers and relationships, family functioning, physical and mental health and well-being, and morbidity and mortality from late adolescence through 2008. WLS data also cover social background, youthful aspirations, schooling, military service, labor market experiences, family characteristics and events, social participation, psychological. Additional information is available at https://wls.wisc.edu/
These are parents of the participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents and Adult Health (Add Health), a widely used cohort study based on a multi-stage sample design. NIA has already funded some harmonization of cognitive measures in Add Health (whose participants are now age 34 to 42). The collection of data on the parents should open up possibilities for studies of intergenerational transmission and family dynamics in adult health. Additional information is available at https://alpdata.rand.org/
SAGE is a longitudinal study collecting data on adults aged 50 years and older, plus a smaller comparison sample of adults aged 18-49 years, from nationally representative samples in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russian Federation and South Africa. Other country research collaborations and SAGE sub-studies exist. Additional information is available at https://apps.who.int/healthinfo/systems/surveydata/index.php/collections/sage
Sponsored by NIA, NACDA operates under the auspices of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and is responsible for archiving data sets concerned with the process of aging, health-related subjects, and the attitudes and behavior of the older adult population. NACDA publishes an annual data collections catalog. Additional information, including the catalog, is available at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/NACDA/index.html
MIDUS is a national sample of continental U.S. residents, aged 25 to 74, who were first interviewed in 1995-96. The original study was conceived by a multidisciplinary team of investigators interested in the influence of psychological and social factors on health, broadly defined, as people age from early adulthood to later life. MIDUS is a collaborative, interdisciplinary investigation of patterns, predictors, and consequences of midlife development in the areas of physical health, psychological well-being, and social responsibility. Additional information is available at https://midus.wisc.edu/

Biology of Aging Resources

A network of NIA grantees willing to share resources that support comparative biology aging studies is available at https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/dab/comparative-biology-aging-resource-sharing-network
The NIA Aging Cell Repository, located at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, NJ., facilitates aging research on cells in culture. These involve skin fibroblast cultures from individuals with premature aging syndromes, including Werner and Hutchinson-Guilford (progeria), cultures from clinically documented and at-risk individuals from families exhibiting familial Alzheimer's disease, differentiated cell lines, and cell lines from animals. The repository also has DNA from many of the cell lines, available individually or in panels. Additional information is available at https://www.coriell.org/1/NIA
The Nonhuman Primate Tissue Bank provides a source of archived tissue from aged nonhuman primates, primarily rhesus monkeys. The tissue is donated by primate centers and universities with primate colonies and is available as frozen tissue chunks, slides of fixed tissue sections, and OTC-embedded frozen tissues. Additional information can be found at https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/dab/nonhuman-primate-tissue-bank
The NIA supports the Primate Aging Database (PAD), a searchable database that contains basic health and husbandry data from primates across the lifespan and from numerous research institutions. PAD, hosted by the Wisconsin National Primate Center, is a password-secured site. Additional information is available at https://primatedatabase.org/
NIA maintains colonies of aged rats and mice for use by the scientific community for research directly related to aging and age-related diseases. The animals are housed behind specific pathogen-free barriers and monitored for genetic purity and health status, and a health report accompanies each shipment of animals. In addition, NIA supports a tissue bank of flash-frozen tissues from mice and rats from the aged rodent colonies and tissue arrays containing punches of multiple ages and multiple tissues per slide. Restrictions exist on eligibility to use the NIA aged rodent colonies. Additional information is available at https://ros.nia.nih.gov/resources/aged-rodent-colonies/eligibility-criteria-use-nia-aged-rodent-colonies

Longitudinal/Clinical Studies

Health ABC studied age-related changes in diverse men and women ages 70-79. The study examined the extent of change in body composition, clinical conditions that accelerate these changes, and the health impact of these changes on strength, endurance, disability, and weight-related diseases. Additional information is available at https://www.nia.nih.gov/healthabc-study
NIA supports the BLSA, which was established in 1958 and is the longest running scientific study of human aging in the United States. BLSA scientists are investigating what happens as people age and how to distinguish changes due to aging from those of disease or other causes. More than 1,200 men and women--ranging in age from their twenties to their nineties--are study volunteers. Additional information is available at https://www.blsa.nih.gov/
The CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy) was a two phase trial focused on testing the effects of caloric restriction in humans. Research questions addressed posed particular emphasis on the adaptive responses thought to be involved in slowing aging and protecting against age-related disease processes. A further aim was to identify potential adverse effects of calorie restriction in humans. The CALERIE database contains physiological and immune functions, physical performance, psychological outcomes, dietary records, disease risk factors, blood chemistry and hematology. The biospecimen repository includes serum, plasma, urine, buffy coat, muscle (vastus lateralis), and fat (subcutaneous abdominal). Additional information is available at https://calerie.duke.edu/
The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) is a longitudinal, prospective, observational study of knee osteoarthritis (OA) in older Americans with OA disease or at increased risk of developing it. The overall aims of MOST are to identify novel and modifiable biomechanical factors (including physical activity-related factors), bone and joint structural factors (including those assessed by MRI of the knee), and nutritional factors that affect the occurrence and progression of OA-related knee symptoms and radiographic knee OA. The MOST cohort has been followed through 84 months with three investigative themes: mechanical risk factors, causes of knee symptoms and pain, and the long-term disease trajectory of knee OA. Additional information is available at https://most.ucsf.edu/
The Pepper Center Integrated Aging Studies Databank and Repository (IASDR) aims to guarantee the proper collection, transfer, and central storage of biological tissue (e.g., blood, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, cartilage and DNA) to be used for conducting future ancillary studies by investigators with an interest in aging-related research. The Repository holds over 135,000 cryovials of serum or plasma collected from more than3100 research participants enrolled in 29 different studies. The Repository also has over 1260 DNA samples collected from research participants. Additional information is available at https://www.peppercenter.org/public/dspIASDR.cfm
The Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) was a multi-center, longitudinal, prospective observational study of knee osteoarthritis (OA). The overall aim of the OAI was to develop a public domain research resource to facilitate the scientific evaluation of biomarkers for osteoarthritis as potential surrogate endpoints for disease onset and progression. The OAI established and maintains a natural history database for osteoarthritis that includes clinical evaluation data, radiological (x-ray and magnetic resonance) images, and a biospecimen repository from 4796 men and women ages 45-79 enrolled between February 2004 and May 2006. All data and images collected are available to researchers worldwide to help quicken the pace of biomarker identification, scientific investigation and OA drug development. Access to biospecimens is by application to the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Additional information is available at https://nda.nih.gov/oai/
The National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) has developed and maintains a large relational database of standardized clinical and neuropathological research data. NACC provides a valuable resource for both exploratory and explanatory Alzheimer's disease research. NACC data are freely available to all researchers. Additional information is available at https://naccdata.org/
The National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease (NCRAD) is an NIH-funded repository that provides resources to help researchers identify the genes that contribute to Alzheimer's and other dementias. NCRAD collects and maintains biological specimens and associated data on study volunteers from a variety of sources, primarily people enrolled at Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers, as well as those in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium, and other studies. NCRAD also houses DNA biospecimens and data from more than 900 families with multiple members affected by Alzheimer's. Since NCRAD began 22 years ago, more than 150,000 biological samples have been requested and sent to more than 120 investigators and research centers across the world. Additional information is available at https://ncrad.iu.edu/
NIAGADS is the NIA Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site, a national genetics data repository that facilitates access to data by qualified investigators. NIAGADS archives, processes and distributes data related to the genetics and genomics of Alzheimer's disease. NIAGADS provides an integrated tool set for examining and comparing the genomes of affected and unaffected individuals. There is a variety of data available from NIAGADS and partner sites: genomic data from NIA-funded genetic studies; deep phenotype data and biomarkers; primary and secondary analyses including CHIP-Seq, RNA-Seq, and expression data; genome wide association studies; genetic data from case-control, family-based, and epidemiologic studies; a variety of basic science and clinical research approaches; next generation and targeted genome sequencing. Additional information is available at https://www.niagads.org/