# Advancing Geriatrics Infrastructure and Network Growth (AGING) Initiative

> **NIH NIH R33** · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · 2024 · $856,122

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
The Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN)-Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs)
AGING (Advancing Geriatrics Infrastructure and Network Growth) Initiative (R24AG045050/R33AG0577806)
was launched in 2014 to address knowledge gaps around multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) in older adults by
fostering an interdisciplinary research agenda. Our mission has been to counter the traditional single-condition,
siloed approach to the care of older adults and advance the science of MCCs. The AGING Initiative is a highly
productive, collaborative, transdisciplinary endeavor involving scientists from 20 HCSRN research centers,
embedded within healthcare delivery systems caring for over 2 million persons aged 65 and older, in
partnership with investigators from 15 premier, university-based centers established by the National Institute
on Aging (the OAICs). In this competitive renewal, our overarching aim is to build on our successful efforts and
collaborations, while taking the AGING Initiative in new, more ambitious, and sustainable directions. We will
seek to promote health equity, further integrate diverse patients and care partners into our scientific activities,
expand efforts to foster the careers of underrepresented minority (URM) scientists, and expand our efforts to
engage with a more diverse group of patients/care partners and a broader array of organizations to improve
the care of older adults with MCCs. Our specific aims are: (1) to foster research innovation and translation of
research findings into practice through an MCCs Research Innovation, Translation, and Dissemination core
that will: (a) fund targeted, interdisciplinary pilot grants (MCCs Innovation Grants); (b) promote inclusion of
underrepresented populations in clinical trials relevant to the care of older adults with MCCs; (c) disseminate
key research findings relevant to the care of older adults with MCCs; and (d) enhance engagement and
collaboration with patients and care partners in research activities; (2) to foster the development of innovative
methods under a Methods, Measures, and Data Core that will: (a) stimulate development and implementation
of innovative research designs; (b) disseminate measures that “matter most” to patients, care partners, and
healthcare providers; (c) identify new data sources and research partnerships; and (d) provide guidance and
mentorship to junior investigators starting their “first” project; and (3) to foster the career development and
success of new and early-stage investigators through an expanded nation-wide cohort of MCCs Scholars by:
(a) enhancing mentoring and networking opportunities in direct response to feedback from current and former
MCCs Scholars; (b) expanding efforts to identify and recruit URM junior investigators; (c) increasing
collaborations with other NIA-sponsored research networks that have scholar programs to increase discourse
on MCCs; and (d) building upon a highly successful collaborat...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10917361
- **Project number:** 5R33AG057806-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** JERRY H GURWITZ
- **Activity code:** R33 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $856,122
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10917361

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10917361, Advancing Geriatrics Infrastructure and Network Growth (AGING) Initiative (5R33AG057806-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10917361. Licensed CC0.

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