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The Inspire project of the Toulouse Hospital System is a comprehensive approach to health care in older adults, focused on maintenance of health and physical function. At the core of the project are human, mouse and killifish cohorts, which in the case of humans, is comprised of 1,000 subjects of ages 20 and above, which are followed for a total of 10 years, both via visits to the clinic, and electronic follow-up via the ICOPE app. At recruitment they are stratified as robust, pre-frail or frail according to Fried’s criteria, and then followed for loss of Intrinsic Capacities, as defined by WHO. A parallel cohort of Swiss mice with enhanced (exercise) and decreased (high fat diet) health will be used to measure concordant parameters. The project is generating a significant biorepository that is being used to pursue research in several areas where Toulouse has a significant research strength.

Chair: Lori Simon-Rusinowitz;Panelists: Representatives of GSA Sections - Phillip Rozario (SRPP), Stephen Helfand (BS), Tamara Baker (BSS), Cynthia Brown (HS), Judith Howe (AGHE), Darina Petrovsky (ESPO); Discussant: Brian Lindberg. This interactive session is an interdisciplinary look at policy issues in aging with the speakers representing views from their sections. This session, organized by the GSA Public Policy Panel, will provide both GSA section leadership and attendees an opportunity to have an open dialogue on important public policy issues of significance in the field of aging. Presentations will likely address the COVID-19 pandemic, how GSA, each section and its members, and the federal government responded during the past year; how the policy work has been influenced by the increased acknowledgement of institutional and societal racism; and member experiences with the influx of additional economic relief, research funding, and funding for aging supports and services programs.

The field of geroscience is rapidly evolving, as well as expanding worldwide. The Program will highlight new approaches and players in the field. Notably, geroscience was initiated as an effort to improve recognition of the role played by basic aging biology in our efforts to improve the health of older adults. Substantial recognition by multiple players of that role of basic aging biology have resulted in significant interest on the part of clinicians and translational biology practitioners. The program will highlight examples of hand-picked efforts in industry and academia, both in the US and in Europe, and will bring into the same stage researchers interested in the various facets of geroscience, from basic biology, translation, clinical and, ultimately, industry viewpoints.

Dr. Sierra will review accomplishments of the Division of Aging Biology and make projections of future growth in the field.

In humans, loss of resilience precedes the development of frailty by decades. As such, measurements of resilience could potentially be used as predictors of healthspan. While advances have been made in studying resilience in the psychosocial domain, resilience to physical challenges has been largely unexplored. Important questions remain that need addressing: when does resilience to specific challenges begin to decline? Which molecular/cellular mechanisms are engaged by different challenges? Which resilience measures are most informative of the overall health of the organisms? And most importantly: which (if any) measures of resilience are predictive of future health/longevity? For many of these questions, and for future mechanistic and interventional studies, studies in humans are limiting. For this reason, the NIA has started a program to study resilience in mice that should help answer the questions above. The presentation will focus on the conceptual basis for the project, and the state of the science.

Dr. Sierra will briefly share highlights of research supported by the Division of Aging Biology, with particular reference to geroscience.