The Sealy Center on Aging is an independent, multidisciplinary component of UTMB that brings together a wide range of expertise in research, education and clinical care related to aging studies.
The Center provides resources to support ongoing research on aging and ignite new research foci in older adult populations. It also supports educational programs on aging and geriatrics and outreach in the community. The Center is supported by endowment funds from the Sealy and Smith Foundation and other grants. Members are comprised of Fellows and Senior Fellows representing all four schools and three institutes at UTMB. Membership is by appointment, based on the faculty’s research interest and scholarly work on aging. The Center brings more than $25 million/year in extramural research funding on aging to UTMB in the areas of medical effectiveness, muscle aging, Hispanic aging, pragmatic clinical trials, and implementation.
The Sealy Center on Aging was created in 1995 to promote research in aging, improve education in aging, and support community outreach under the leadership of Dr. James S. Goodwin, George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics. Funding for the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC) began in 2000. In 2001, the Center was identified as one of the top aging research programs in the country in a comprehensive internal review. In 2005, the Center’s external funding increases to over $20 million in external funding for aging research. Dr. Elena Volpi became the Director in 2014.