 
SLU Researcher Receives Largest Ever NIA Grant |
Douglas K. Miller, M.D., professor of internal medicine in the division of geriatric medicine at the School of Medicine, has received the largest grant ever awarded by the National Institutes of Aging (NIA). The $5.613 million grant will be used to study the aging process in African Americans -- the causes of disability and physical ailments and the factors that might prevent or reverse these conditions. Through an earlier NIA-funded project (1991-1997), Miller and his colleagues determined that certain elderly African Americans, age 70 to 99 years old and living in urban St. Louis, showed a greater risk for disability than comparable Caucasians or African Americans living elsewhere in the United States.
To uncover the cause of this increased risk of frailty, Miller will follow a younger contingent of urban African Americans, age 50 to 64 years old, over several years. The current grant covers a period of four years, and Miller and his colleagues plan to cover another five to 10 years with additional funding.
As study participants age, researchers will evaluate how extensive a role socioeconomic status plays in their general health and track how factors such as physical deconditioning, diabetes mellitus, obesity, weight loss, fear of falling and reduced mobility affect their ability to care for themselves.
Miller's study involves seven investigators at SLU, plus additional consultants at Washington University and the University of Colorado.
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