NIH funds first-of-its-kind center to study resilience and aging

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – America’s population is the oldest it has ever been. And though older people are more independent than ever, they face a huge care gap, one that challenges families, communities and healthcare systems. 

Enter the Center for Seniors Uniting Nationwide to Support Health, INtegrated care, and Economics, known as the Center for SUNSHINE, an interdisciplinary collaboration funded by a  $901,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for the first two years to establish the center, with the potential for up to six years of support. 

Co-led by the University of Maryland School of Public Health (UMD SPH) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), the Center for SUNSHINE will serve as a national hub for interdisciplinary research, training and real-world innovation to strengthen resilience in aging populations. The center, outlined in a study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry this month, draws from 50 years of scholarship at UMD’s Center on Aging and the computational innovation and clinical partnerships enabled by the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing (UM-IHC). 

“Our ultimate goal is happy, healthy and well-supported aging for everyone,” said Dr. Jie Chen, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, and director of the Center on Aging and the Hospital And Public health interdisciPlinarY research (HAPPY) Lab at UMD SPH. “The Center for SUNSHINE is about building aging resilience by transforming the systems that shape health and care. Through bold interdisciplinary research, we aim to strengthen care coordination, empower communities, and reimagine the health and social infrastructure needed to support aging across the nation.”

The center will be helmed by Chen with co-leads Dr. Rozalina McCoy, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and director of the Center for Population Health at UM-IHC and Dr. Stephen Thomas, professor of health policy and management at UMD SPH. 

“We are creating a remarkable platform for research, education and innovation in healthcare delivery – bringing together economics, demography, medicine, population health, artificial intelligence, epidemiology and health informatics – all in service of improving care systems and boosting the resilience of our older populations,” said McCoy. 

Ten academic units across UMD are involved in the Center for SUNSHINE, including the School of Engineering and the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM). Other partners include Howard University and the Erickson School of Aging Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); see below for a full list of partners. 

The Center will invest in training and mentoring the next generation of scholars, with a focus on aging resilience and health systems research. It will also support pilot projects led by qualified researchers nationwide, offering access to anonymized Medicare claims, electronic health records, and geospatial data, along with analytic and modeling support. Funded pilot investigators will receive tailored development resources to advance their research and career trajectories.

“Community engagement is a major focus of the Center for SUNSHINE. We are committed to ensuring that older adults and their families are not just ‘human subjects’ of research, but true collaborators in shaping the science, policies, and innovations that support healthy aging,” said Thomas. 

In its first year, the Center for SUNSHINE will fund two pilot projects that directly apply research to improving the health and wellbeing of older people: Dr. Shelby Steuart, at UMD College Park, will examine telehealth and behavioral health care for older adults and Dr. Margaret Connolly at UMSOM will explore access to novel treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a common condition in older people. 

To set up an interview with Drs. Jie Chen or Stephen Thomas, please email sph-comm@umd.edu. To set up an interview with Dr. Rozalina McCoy, please email DKotz@som.umaryland.edu. 

 

Center for SUNSHINE Partners

University System of Maryland

• UM Institute for Health Computing

• UM Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center

• UM School of Medicine

• UM School of Pharmacy

• UMB Center for Research on Aging

• UMBC Erickson School of Aging Studies

• UMD Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland

• UMD College of Behavioral and Social Sciences

• UMD College of Information

• UMD Legacy Leadership Institute on Public Policy

• UMD School of Business

• UMD School of Engineering

• UMD School of Public Health 

Institutions around the region

• Georgetown University

• Virginia Commonwealth University

• Howard University

• Universities at Shady Grove

Community and national organizations

• PATIENTS Program, UMB

• Maryland CRAB

• Maryland Extension

• Encore Creativity for Older Adults

• AARP

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