The Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has received a $6 million grant renewal from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). This prestigious award will provide funding for collaborative,interdisciplinary research in aging and rehabilitation through 2011 and enable the University of Maryland School of Medicine and its collaborative affiliate, the Baltimore VA Medical Center’s Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, to maintain their status as national leaders in aging research.

The Pepper Center’s mission is to conduct exercise and neuromotor rehabilitation research to improve the recovery of older adults with stroke, hip fracture or chronic debilitating diseases associated with aging. The ultimate goal of the investigators is to translate their research findings into effective clinical rehabilitation programs for older adults living with a disability.

The Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center Program was established in honor of Claude D. Pepper, the late U.S. senator from Florida. During his five decades of public service, Senator Pepper was a strong and effective advocate for the health and well-being of older adults and built a legacy of ongoing research support to promote independence, function, and quality of life in the elderly.


“This award will support collaborations among a multidisciplinary team of investigators in the conduct of exercise rehabilitation,” says Andrew P. Goldberg, M.D., professor of medicine and head of the division of gerontology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and principal investigator at the Pepper Center. “The Pepper Center research will focus on stroke, hip fracture, obesity-type 2 diabetes and other conditions associated with aging, and the translation of these findings into effective community-based rehabilitation programs.

“Our findings from the past 10 years show that exercise can reduce many of the functional declines, disabilities and health consequences associated with stroke, heart failure and peripheral arterial occlusive disease that often affect functionality and independence in older adults,” says Dr. Goldberg. “This renewed funding will allow us to expand our research to examine mechanisms underlying disability in older people and better support community-based studies. The center’s research career development and leadership cores will mentor junior investigators in the conduct of research on aging and provide support for them as they transition to become independent researchers.”

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