Research Resources

With 2,832 participants, the ACTIVE Study is the largest study on cognitive training ever performed. Funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the National Institute on Aging, the Indiana University School of Medicine, Penn State University, and others, the ACTIVE study proves that healthy older adults can make significant cognitive improvements with appropriate cognitive training and practice. It also demonstrates that Posit Science training drives improvements that are significantly better than other types of cognitive exercise.

AlzPED is a publicly available, searchable, data resource that aims to increase the transparency, reproducibility and translatability of preclinical efficacy studies of candidate therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease. AlzPED is designed as a knowledge platform for the dissemination of data and analysis to scientists, from academic centers, industry, disease-focused foundations, in a manner that promotes efficiency, transparency, reproducibility and accuracy of research aimed at preclinical therapy development for AD. AlzPED provides quick access and visibility to integrated preclinical efficacy data from published and unpublished studies. Visit the AlzPED website.

The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) provides nationally representative estimates of how, where, and with whom Americans spend their time, and is the only federal survey providing data on the full range of nonmarket activities, from childcare to volunteering. ATUS data files are used by researchers to study a broad range of issues; the data files include information collected from over 136,000 interviews conducted from 2003 to 2012.

CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy) was a study designed to determine the biological effects of two years of prolonged caloric restriction (CR) in humans. The CALERIE database contains information from study participants on physiological and immune functions, physical performance, psychological outcomes, dietary records, disease risk factors, blood chemistry, and hematology. The biospecimen repository includes serum, plasma, urine, muscle, and fat.

The CALERIE Intensive Intervention Database is a toolkit that allows investigators to identify the major factors affecting individual participants’ interventions and adherence over the course of the trial. A computer-based algorithm provides specific strategies in Behavioral/Environmental and Nutritional/Dietary Toolboxes. Researchers can use these resources to identify key pathways that respond to CR, and for targets for novel interventions in aging research. Investigators can also examine a variety of risk factors, aging-related outcomes, and psychological and behavioral factors that interact with lowered caloric intake and weight loss.

Learn more and access the CALERIE Intensive Intervention Database.

The AgingResearchBiobank is a central biorepository to provide a state-of-the-art inventory system for the storage and distribution of these collections to the broader scientific community.

The AgingResearchBiobank has two components:

• Biologic Specimens (Biorepository) – Using best practices, this component receives, stores, maintains, and distributes biospecimens from different study collections to qualified investigators.
• Data Repository – Serving as the data coordinating center for the Biobank, the Data Repository receives, archives, maintains, and distributes databases from different study collections. It also analyzes stored data in response to inquiries, assists ongoing studies in preparing data for eventual archiving, assists in the selection of appropriate biospecimens for proposed secondary research, and coordinates cross-referencing between the two components of the Biobank.

NIA supports a multi-institutional study investigating pharmacological interventions that might extend lifespan or healthspan using diverse species and strains of Caenorhabditis. This approach leverages the genetic diversity within this genus to examine robustness of interventions. The CITP allows investigators to submit proposals for interventions to be tested for their ability to decelerate aging and extend lifespan. Please visit the CITP web page.

To facilitate aging research on cells in culture, the NIA provides support for the NIA Aging Cell Repository, located at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, NJ. Included are skin fibroblast cultures from individuals with premature aging syndromes, including Werner and Hutchinson-Guilford (progeria), cultures from clinically documented and at-risk individuals from families exhibiting familial Alzheimer's disease, differentiated cell lines, and cell lines from animals. The repository also has DNA from many of the cell lines, available individually or in panels such as the Primate DNA panel, Aging Syndrome DNA panel, Characterized Alzheimer's disease mutation DNA panel, Early and Late Onset Alzheimer's disease DNA panels, and Aged Sib Pairs DNA panel.

This NIA web-based searchable collection of tools and resources supports the recruitment and retention of participants into clinical trials and studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. ADORE resources include recruitment plans, communication materials, toolkits and guides, videos, and related research articles. Users can browse by category, search by keyword, or explore by tags.

The NIA Clinical Research Study Investigators Toolbox provides a web-based information repository for investigators and staff involved in clinical research. The Toolbox contains templates, sample forms, guidelines, regulations and information materials to assist investigators in the development and conduct of high quality clinical research studies.

NIA Array Analysis tool is a free on-line software for statistical analysis of gene expression data (microarrays or RNA-seq). The tool uses ANOVA to evaluate the statistical significance (p-value and FDR) of differential gene expression on log-scale. Results are visualized using log-ratio plots and scatter-plots. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to identify major patterns of variability in gene expression, and then clusters of genes correlated with each PC are delineated. Additional tools include finding genes whose expression matches a given pattern, plotting the dendrogram for individual replications, the error function (SD vs. expression level), and displaying the correlation matrix. Input data is uploaded as tab-delimited text together with annotation file for microarray platform.

To learn more about ANOVA and download the tool for use, click here.