The overall goal of the Duke Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (Duke OAIC) is to support research and training that improves the independence of older Americans. Our primary focus is understanding and optimizing reserve and resilience.
Our approach is founded on the insight that independence in older adults is related to an individual’s ability to withstand or recover from functional decline following acute or chronic health stressors.
Our overall strategy for the OAIC is to serve as a sustained resource to our investigators through a broad range of training and research studies; the goal will be to address knowledge gaps in our focus with an emphasis on translational and interdisciplinary research. We recruit and develop early stage investigators in aging research related to our focus and utilize the substantial strengths of the Duke academic and health system environment to advance our focus.
Our goals are accomplished through the synergistic activities of the:
- Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC)
- Research Education Component (REC)
- Pilot/Exploratory Studies Core (PESC)
- Resource Cores:
- Molecular Measures Core (MMC)
- Health and Mobility Measures Core (HMC)
- Analysis Core (AC)
Click here to explore Duke OAIC publications dating back to 2006, or expand the tab below to view a selection of key publications.
Zhang X, Ma S, Huebner JL, Naz SI, Alnemer N, Soderblom EJ, Aliferis C, Kraus VB. Immune system-related plasma extracellular vesicles in healthy aging. Front Immunol. 2024;15:1355380. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1355380. eCollection 2024. PubMed PMID: 38633262; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11021711.
Bowling CB, Berkowitz TSZ, Burrows BT, Ma JE, Whitson HE, Smith B, Crowley SD, Wang V, Maciejewski ML, Olsen MK. Trajectories of Physical Resilience Among Older Veterans with Stage 4 CKD. Am J Kidney Dis. 2024 Aug;84(2):154-163. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2024.01.529. Epub 2024 Mar 12. PubMed PMID: 38484869; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11503626.
Andonian BJ, Ross LM, Sudnick AM, Johnson JL, Pieper CF, Belski KB, Counts JD, King AP, Wallis JT, Bennett WC, Gillespie JC, Moertl KM, Richard D, Huebner JL, Connelly MA, Siegler IC, Kraus WE, Bales CW, Porter Starr KN, Huffman KM. Effect of Remotely Supervised Weight Loss and Exercise Training Versus Lifestyle Counseling on Cardiovascular Risk and Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2024 Mar;6(3):124-136. doi: 10.1002/acr2.11639. Epub 2023 Dec 21. PubMed PMID: 38126260; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10933621.
Manning KM, Hall KS, Sloane R, Magistro D, Rabaglietti E, Lee CC, Castle S, Kopp T, Giffuni J, Katzel L, McDonald M, Miyamoto M, Pearson M, Jennings SC, Bettger JP, Morey MC. Longitudinal analysis of physical function in older adults: The effects of physical inactivity and exercise training. Aging Cell. 2024 Jan;23(1):e13987. doi: 10.1111/acel.13987. Epub 2023 Sep 8. PubMed PMID: 37681737; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10776115.
Colon-Emeric C, Schmader K, Cohen HJ, Morey M, Whitson H. Ageing and physical resilience after health stressors. Stress Health. 2023 Sep;39(S1):48-54. doi: 10.1002/smi.3241. Epub 2023 Mar 15. PubMed PMID: 36879359; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10480330.
Thomas J, Eckstrom E, Lam WKK, Sullivan S, Bentley-Edwards K, Gierisch JM, Bowling CB. Recommendations for using the 5Ts Framework to support research inclusion across the lifespan. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2023 Aug;71(8):2664-2669. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18359. Epub 2023 Apr 10. PubMed PMID: 37036034; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10495931.
Bourassa KJ, Caspi A, Brennan GM, Hall KS, Harrington H, Houts R, Kimbrel NA, Poulton R, Ramrakha S, Taylor GA, Moffitt TE. Which Types of Stress Are Associated With Accelerated Biological Aging? Comparing Perceived Stress, Stressful Life Events, Childhood Adversity, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Psychosom Med. 2023 Jun 1;85(5):389-396. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000001197. Epub 2023 Apr 7. PubMed PMID: 37053097; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10239326.
Whitson HE, Crabtree D, Pieper CF, Ha C, Au S, Berger M, Cohen HJ, Feld J, Smith P, Hall K, Parker D, Kraus VB, Kraus WE, Schmader K, Colón-Emeric C. A template for physical resilience research in older adults: Methods of the PRIME-KNEE study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021 Nov;69(11):3232-3241. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17384. Epub 2021 Jul 29. PubMed PMID: 34325481; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8595699.
Colón-Emeric C, Pieper CF, Schmader KE, Sloane R, Bloom A, McClain M, Magaziner J, Huffman KM, Orwig D, Crabtree DM, Whitson HE. Two Approaches to Classifying and Quantifying Physical Resilience in Longitudinal Data. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Mar 9;75(4):731-738. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glz097. PubMed PMID: 30993327; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7328208.
Colón-Emeric CS, Huang J, Pieper CF, Bettger JP, Roth DL, Sheehan OC. Cost trajectories as a measure of functional resilience after hospitalization in older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2020 Dec;32(12):2595-2601. doi: 10.1007/s40520-020-01481-8. Epub 2020 Feb 14. PMID: 32060803.
Colón-Emeric C, Whitson HE, Pieper CF, Sloane R, Orwig D, Huffman KM, Bettger JP, Parker D, Crabtree DM, Gruber-Baldini A, Magaziner J. Resiliency Groups Following Hip Fracture in Older Adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Dec;67(12):2519-2527. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16152. Epub 2019 Aug 30. PMID: 31469411.
Parker DC, Colόn-Emeric C, Huebner JL, Chou CH, Kraus VB, Pieper CF, Sloane R, Whitson HE, Orwig D, Crabtree DM, Magaziner J, Bain JR, Muehlbauer M, Ilkayeva OR, Huffman KM. Biomarkers Associated with Physical Resilience After Hip Fracture. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Sep 25;75(10):e166-e172. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glaa119. PMID: 32386291.
Gijzel SMW, Whitson HE, van de Leemput IA, Scheffer M, van Asselt D, Rector JL, Olde Rikkert MGM, Melis RJF. Resilience in Clinical Care: Getting a Grip on the Recovery Potential of Older Adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Dec;67(12):2650-2657. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16149. Epub 2019 Sep 9. PMID: 31498881.