Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center

In September 1989, the University of Michigan established the nation's first Claude D. Pepper Geriatrics Center (U-M Pepper Center) The overall goals of the U-M Pepper Center are to advance research on health care problems of the elderly and to train future academic leaders in Geriatrics. Drawing on the large base of research currently underway in the fields of geriatrics and gerontology at the University of Michigan , the U-M Pepper Center fosters collaborative multidisciplinary research to integrate basic science, clinical science, and health services research relevant to the health care problems of older adults. The U-M Pepper Center grant supports important research activities of the Geriatrics Center at the University of Michigan. Founded in 1987, the Geriatrics Center is the umbrella organization for geriatrics research, education, and patient care at the University of Michigan. The Director of the Geriatrics Center and Program Director of the U-M Pepper Center is Jeffrey B. Halter, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and Research Professor in the Institute of Gerontology.

The specific goals of the U-M Pepper Center are:

1. To enhance the independence of older people by developing and testing new interventions for common health problems causing disabilities.
2. To provide Research Resources Cores that support and assist investigator initiated research projects which can lead to new insights into the basic mechanisms underlying conditions that contribute to loss of independence of older adults.
3. To strengthen the U-M environment for training of future academic leaders in geriatrics and aging.
4. To attract U-M junior faculty to research on problems that limit independence of older adults and on potential interventions to enhance such independence.
5. To carry out innovative demonstration and dissemination projects to translate research findings in order to improve the independence of older adults.