News Release

UNC Institute on Aging Announces Winners of the Research Stimulus Grants in Aging Program

November 6, 2008

Awards in the form of pilot grants for interdisciplinary team building and research grant development in aging have been given to three researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Funding for this grant program was provided, in large part, by The UNC-CH Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development. The aim of the Research Stimulus Grants in Aging program is to build greater strength in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary aging research on the UNC-CH campus. During the one year funding period, grantees will be expected to use the award to build an interdisciplinary team and to develop a research proposal in aging.

The Program, now in its third year, provides structured mentorship experiences to foster research development. Recipients work with individual mentors or mentor teams and attend monthly workshops.

Two of the teams are continuing their important work from previously funded RSGAP pilot studies. The funded pilot projects and interdisciplinary teams include:

A Pilot Study to Explore Factors Influencing Pursuit of Work in Persons with Disabilities After Age 50 (Continuation funded)

Co-Principal Investigators: Charles Bernacchio, Ed.D., CRC, Assistant Research Professor, Allied Health Sciences, Rehabilitation, Psychology and Counseling and Donna Falvo, RN, PhD, Clinical Professor, Allied Health Sciences, Rehabilitation, Psychology and Counseling

Research and Investigator Team: Kelty Bailey and Janice McGilberry; Graduate Research Assistants, Rehabilitation, Psychology and Counseling.

IOA Mentor: Jennifer Craft Morgan, Ph.D., Associate Director for Research, UNC Institute on Aging

Risk Management and Retirement

Principal Investigator: John C. Scott, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy

Research and Investigator Team: Jianlin Hou, MA, Health Policy and Management

IOA Mentor: Victor W. Marshall, PhD, Director, UNC Institute on Aging, Professor, Department of Sociology

Clot Structure and Venous Thrombosis and Thromboembolism in the Elderly (Continuation funded)

Principal Investigator: Alisa S. Wolberg, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Research and Investigator Team: Susan T. Lord, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Stephan Moll, M.D., Associate Professor, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine; Kellie R. Machlus, Graduate Student, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

IOA Mentor: Virginia Neelon, Ph.D., R.N., Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Director of the Biobehavioral Laboratory