NIH: Enhancing Cross-National Research within the HRS Family of Studies
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a Funding Opportunity Announcement, Enhancing Cross-National Research within the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Family of Studies(RFA-AG-15-015), designed to enhance the comparability among the NIA-supported HRS and the family of comparable longitudinal aging studies around the world to support cross-national behavioral and social science research in aging in high priority areas.
HRS is considered the premier source of data on population aging in the U.S. It is a nationally representative, population-based sample of individuals aged 50 and older, beginning in 1992, and contains multidisciplinary information covering many research areas including health and socioeconomic status, administrative data linkages, and objective health measures. NIA has encouraged the development of longitudinal studies of aging comparable to the HRS in other countries. This has led to a system of multidisciplinary data collections in parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Ongoing collaboration among studies to produce comparable data sources is organized via the NIH-supported Network on Harmonization of Cross-National Studies of Aging.
The announcement seeks applications to develop comparable measures in the HRS-family of studies in the areas of cognition and dementia assessment, personality and non-cognitive-character-skills, social isolation and loneliness, physical activity, and life histories. NIA intends to commit up to $2.5 million in FY 2015 to fund three to four awards. Additional funds, at least $1 million, have been set aside to support projects focusing on cognition/dementia assessment. Applications are due November 7. For more information and to apply, click here.