Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core

7. Project Summary- PESC The overall goal of the UM-OAIC Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC) is to provide critical initial funding for pilot and exploratory studies that are consistent with the Center’s overall goal, which is to build on the scientific and therapeutic applications of exercise and rehabilitation by: 1) advancing our understanding of the mechanisms by which exercise, activity-based, and rehabilitation interventions directed at specific impairments affect multiple body systems underlying functional performance; and 2) developing and testing interventions to restore function and minimize disability from acute and chronic serious diseases in older adults. To accomplish these goals, we propose: 1) To solicit and select high-quality innovative pilot and exploratory studies (PES) that are consistent with the overall UM-OAIC goal; and 2) support the implementation of these innovative and promising PES through the utilization of PESC and UM-OAIC resources. These resources are structured to support the successful design and implementation of PES and include: Research Design Studios to provide specific methodological expertise; Project Implementation Support Groups to ensure prompt and efficient initiation of research projects; and multidisciplinary Research Working Groups to provide mentoring and guide and assist investigators in conducting their projects, reporting results, and developing future investigations. Pilot study awardees will further leverage the resources from the UM-OAIC Resource Cores along with allied programs and centers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the larger University System of Maryland, and nationally through collaboration with other OAICs. PES will be selected through a rigorous peer review process led by the Research Education Advisory Panel, with reviewers selected from the External Advisory Board, leaders from other OAICs, and a member of the Core Leadership Executive Committee. Input will also be solicited from the Community Advisory Board to ensure that projects are relevant in older adults and their caregivers from diverse communities in Baltimore and the State of Maryland. Three innovative projects will be selected for funding in the first year of this competitive renewal, led by PIs from the Departments of Epidemiology and Public Health, Orthopedics, and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. These projects will investigate: 1) The intersection of depression and pain on functional outcomes in knee osteoarthritis, utilizing data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative; 2) cell mechanics as a mechanism of biological age, using translational methods to examine microtubular structure and cystokeletal stiffness as markers of biological age in pre-clinical and human models; and 3) a pilot-level randomized controlled trial of telemedicine and telerehabilitation in older Intensive Care Unit survivors on functional outcomes, rehospitalization, and ambulatory clinic retention. The results obtained from these pilot and exploratory studies will provide key preliminary data to support grant applications for extramural funding for larger, more definitive investigator- initiated studies.