Researchers
University of Pittsburgh Research
Current Research Studies
University Researchers
The University of Pittsburgh has one of the nation's largest and most
diverse research portfolios. Nearly $150 million in extramural funding
supports studies on virtually every aspect of aging, from basic science
and medicine to ethics, caregiver stress, health services, and health
policy. Research on aging emanates from virtually all of the University's
16 schools, more than a dozen of its Centers
of Excellence, and the new RAND-Pittsburgh. Researchers are also
partnering with the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative (PRHI)
to enhance the quality of healthcare throughout the region. Furthermore,
a recent initiative of the University Pittsburgh Institute on Aging
will leverage most of these resources to re-engineer health care for
older adults.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Division of Geriatric Medicine
is one of the nation’s largest and best. From a research standpoint,
it is nationally recognized for its work in epidemiology of aging,
sarcopenia, gait, mobility, falls, osteoporosis, the evaluation and
management of chronic pain, home care, urinary incontinence, the epidemiology
and implications of cardiac disease, and dementia and behavior management.
Other areas of research activity include assessment of cognition, prevention
of delirium, and prevention and treatment of infections in long-term
care.
Recent and ongoing research at the University explores a wide range
of topics and disciplines:
- ALS: motor neuron cell pathology
- Alzheimer’s disease and dementia: neuroimaging and gene testing
studying the effects of comorbidities and pharmacology
- balance changes: epidemiology and bioengineering
- bipolar disorders: mental health disorders including bipolar disorders,
schizophrenia with emphasis on comorbidities, epidemiology, gene
therapy, and pharmacology
- bowel and sphincter dysfunction: clinical epidemiology, pathophysiology,
comorbidity, and a wide spectrum of behavioral, pharmacologic, device,
and surgical treatment modalities
- cardiovascular disease: pathophysiology, clinical epidemiology,
and health studies
- care assessment in long-term care: quality of life, quality of
long-term clinical care issues, initiatives in multiple settings,
and opportunities for improvement
- caregiving: psychiatric and physical health effects of caregiving,
including families and health care professionals
- delirium: clinical epidemiology, prevention, and treatment
- depression: prevention, detection, pathophysiology, treatment,
and impact on social functioning as well as applications in other
research areas including elderly suicide, disabilities, and mortality
rates
- doctor-patient communication: related to a wide variety of geriatric
medicine issues
- electronic mail: quality of life of the isolated elderly population
- end-of-life care: bioethical considerations and quality improvement
- functional assessment: technology, treatment, and prevention for
frail, older adults
- gene therapy: multiple conditions including cardiologic, endocrine,
neurologic, neurodegenerative, vision, osteoarthritis, urologic,
and mood disorders
- geriatric educational programs: effectiveness of professional
continuing education
- health care economics, outcomes, and utilization: effects of aging
and results of care provided in multiple settings for specific diseases
and conditions
- health care disparities and anthropologic research: racial differences
in coping with chronic disease and other aging-related issues
- infectious disease: pneumonia-related morbidity and mortality
in the community and nursing homes, as well as urinary tract and
other infectious diseases prevalent in long-term care
- innovative care models: for marginalized and underserved elderly
- medical ethics
- men’s health initiatives: osteoporosis and prostate cancer
treatments
- mood disorders: depression, epidemiology, psychopharmacology,
functional brain imaging
- nutrition
- osteoporosis: pathogenesis, treatment, genetics, and lifestyle
factors
- pain: acute, ambulatory, community, and long-term settings exploring
the epidemiology of pain and treatment modalities including traditional,
complementary, and alternative medicine
- Parkinson’s disease: pathophysiology and gene therapy studies
when applicable to treatment
- pharmacology: specific diseases and conditions exploring pharmacokinetics,
pharmacodynamics, polypharmacy, psychotropic agents, and adherence
issues
- rehabilitative medicine: telerehabilitation, assistive technologies,
and robotics
- research methodology: quality at all stages of research
- sarcopenia: risk factors, pathophysiology, comorbidity, and prevention
- sleep disorders: primary insomnia, treatment responses, and other
sleep disorder factors
- suicide: prevention involving primary care settings and practitioners
- urinary incontinence: epidemiology, comorbidity, treatment protocols,
and long-term management
- women’s health: cardiovascular disease, memory loss, and
menopause
For information on the many geriatric research-focused centers of
excellence associated with the Institute on Aging, UPMC, the University
of Pittsburgh, and other regional agencies, access Centers
of Excellence or contact the Institute
on Aging at 1-866-430-8742.
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