To expand research capacity overall and enhance the professional research skills of upcoming investigators in the field of aging and age-related disease, the Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging brings together multiple partners and resources in a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE).
One of three program projects at Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Geroscience CoBRE helps develop emerging research topics through a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The CoBRE also provides early-career support to build professional skills that researchers need to successfully apply for an initial R01 grant-funded research project.
In addition to six core services available through a partnership with Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center on Aging, the Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging in Oklahoma City provides three additional related core services to assist promising junior investigators (PJIs) who focus on research into aging and age-related diseases. CoBRE cores include:
- Administrative services – Provides grant administration, recruitment, mentoring and statistics (ARMS); coordinates recruitment and replacement of researchers; oversees mentoring of investigators by senior faculty; provides biostatistical support that includes research design, data management and statistical analysis
- Animal model development and behavioral analysis (AMD-BA) – Centralizes breeding, maintenance, phenotyping and behavioral characterization of animal models of aging and age-related chronic diseases; includes water maze and tissue bank
- Molecular analysis and cellular imaging (MACI) – Offers instrumentation, services and training for rigorous analysis of structure and function through gene expression, gene regulation and imaging studies; includes photon and cranial window technique, slide preparation