History
In 1999, the University of Texas Medical Branch, Sealy Center on Aging was awarded a $6.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to establish the UTMB Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC), the only Pepper Center serving the Southwest. Under the direction of Principle Investigator, James S. Goodwin, M.D., its major purpose is to study how muscle metabolism and function change with age and contributes to loss of independence in older persons. (See Pepper Center site 1999-2004).
In 2004, the UTMB OAIC grant was approved for renewed funding by NIA for an additional five years. The new focus of the UTMB OAIC is to examine muscle function from interdisciplinary perspectives across the entire spectrum of biomedical investigation—from molecular biology to outcomes assessment.
Mission
- Provide support to funded interdisciplinary translational research on age-related sarcopenia (muscle degeneration) by investigators at UTMB and with other (OAIC)s.
- Stimulate additional interdisciplinary research by funding pilot grants and developmental projects.
- Train future leaders in translational interdisciplinary research on the causes, pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of sarcopenia.
- Recruit established investigators to the study of age-related sarcopenia.
- Foster collaborations between UTMB investigators and investigators at other institutions on studies of age-related sarcopenia.