ABOUT US

As Interim Director, Dr. Manini will guide the IOA in catalyzing interdisciplinary aging research and education, expanding collaborative networks, and enhancing UF’s impact on healthy aging across the lifespan.

Following the closure of the Department of Aging in 2021, the newly merged Department of Physiology and Aging was launched.

This ten-year program is the largest targeted NIH investment of funds into the mechanisms of how physical activity improves health and prevents disease. MoTrPAC is supported by the NIH Common Fund, and is managed by a program team led by the NIH Office of Strategic Coordination (OSC), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and by a trans-agency working group representing multiple NIH institutes and centers.

The Enabling Reduction of Low-grade Inflammation in Seniors (ENRGISE) Pilot Study is a multicenter randomized clinical trial examining the feasibility of testing whether omega-3 fish oil (ω-3) and the angiotensin receptor blocker losartan alone or in combination can reduce inflammation and improve walking speed in older adults with mobility impairment.

Following three years of construction, the IOA-CTRB wing was finally complete.

The award was administered through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant program, which aimed to stimulate the U.S. economy, create and preserve jobs, and advance scientific research. $15M coming from the ORIP ARRA grant was awarded to build the Institute on Aging (IOA) wing of the Clinical and Translational Research Building (CTRB).

The LIFE Study, or Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE), started in February 2010. Based upon promising results from a pilot study among 424 sedentary older adults who were randomized to a physical activity intervention or a successful aging health education intervention, a Phase 3 multi-center randomized controlled trial is being conducted to compare a moderate-intensity physical activity program to a successful aging health education program in 1,600 sedentary older adults who are followed for an average of 2.7 years.

The University of Florida’s Institute on Aging received a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC). UF was one of 10 centers in the country to receive the prestigious award, which provides $3.9 million over the next five years to fund aging research and career development. UF was Florida’s first OAIC.

Marco Pahor becomes the IOA Director, and the Department of Aging is established.

To address the many challenges faced by the state’s increasing elderly population – such as the threat of Alzheimer’s disease, the rising cost of prescription drugs and inaccurate public perceptions – the University of Florida has created a new Institute on Aging.