I-REACH (Infrastructure for REsearch on Cancer and Aging)

With advances in screening and treatment, cancer is becoming a chronic disease. By 2030, there will be 22 million cancer survivors living in the US and three-quarters of these survivors will be ages 65 and older. The broad goal of the Infrastructure for REsearch on Aging, Cancer and Health (I-REACH) is to support a national community of scientists focused on generating new knowledge about the bidirectional relationships between aging and cancer that can be leveraged to design, deliver and evaluate interventions to improve the health of the growing population of older cancer survivors. I-REACH brings together under one umbrella the accumulated expertise of four cancer center hubs (Georgetown, University of Maryland, Karmanos/Wayne State, UCLA), stakeholders, all the major NIA Center programs and national geriatrics, gerontology and cancer organizations. The first aim is to: 1) Provide and evaluate Core infrastructure to support and sustain aging and cancer research programs, including a) a Career Development Core providing mentoring and a curriculum providing foundational knowledge; b) a Data and Measurement Core to guide primary data collection and/or enable use of secondary data to fill knowledge gaps in aging and cancer research; and c) a Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration (“Stakeholder”) Core to integrate stakeholder perspectives into Cores and Programs and support recruitment of older persons into research. The second aim is to use all Core resources to provide a two-year mentored Scholars program for pre-doctoral, doctoral and early stage to senior scientists and support career success in aging and cancer. The last aim is to operate a Pilot Program to award and guide stakeholder-informed grants addressing gaps in aging and cancer research, enabling K/R-grants leading to future multi-site studies. I-REACH provides value added to the NIH by bridging NIA and NCI priorities and addressing areas not covered in other programs. I-REACH efficiently leverages NIA investments to address needs of a rapidly growing older US population. The lessons learned in this infrastructure grant will be applicable to informing future initiatives examining other chronic diseases of aging.