CCBAR
Newsletter
– October,
2013
Editors:
Natalia
Gavrilova
and
Stacy
Tessler
Lindau
CCBAR News:
The 8th
Chicago Workshop on Biomeasures in Population-Based Health
and Aging Research
The 2013 Workshop, "Biosocial Study of Health and Aging in Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and HIV-Affected Populations" (October 17, 2013), was
held October 17, 2013 at the University Club of Chicago. About fifty
individuals participated. Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen, Ph.D.,
Principal Investigator of the NIA-funded study "Older Adults
in Vulnerable Communities: Health and Quality of Life Over Time",
presented an outstanding keynote lecture that engaged participants in
questions about integration of biological measures. Presentations
covered various aspects of LGBT studies including sexual identity
measures, sampling solutions, and biomeasures collection with
particular emphasis on biosocial and technology-based approaches to the
study of sexual minority populations. Unfortunately, due to
shut-down, colleagues from government agencies were not able to
participate. For more information on the workshop (including
an updated agenda) please visit the CCBAR website at: http://biomarkers.uchicago.edu/ChicagoBiomarkerWorkshop.htm
. Highlights from talks will be posted soon.
CCBAR would like to welcome new subscribers to the CCBAR Newsletter.
Based on positive feedback from past workshops, we have added
participants of the 2013 Workshop to the distribution list. If you are
not interested in receiving this monthly newsletter, please reply to
this email message indicating 'unsubscribe' in the subject. We hope you
find the newsletter useful for your work.
On October 15, 2013, Natalia Gavrilova made an outreach lecture about
biosocial survey research in the United States and worldwide at the Center for Health and
the Social Sciences (CHeSS at the University of Chicago) for
health administrators from Kazakhstan. Participants expressed
interest in conducting biosocial population surveys collecting
biomeasures in Kazakhstan.
CCBAR Q & A:
Q:
I
carefully read the salivary assay technical report for progesterone,
and noticed that the inter-assay and intra-assay results for the
samples were not reported for the NSHAP study. Instead, inter-assay and
intra-assay results are reported from the Salimetrics progesterone
assay insert. Do you know where we can find it?
A:
In
addition to the technical report, we also
published a paper describing the salivary hormone assays (Gavrilova N.,
Lindau S.T. Salivary sex hormone measurement in a national,
population-based study of older adults. The Journals of Gerontology
Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences,
2009, 64, Suppl.1, i94-105.). This is what our paper writes
about intra- and inter-assays: "The criteria for repeated testing was
variation greater than 20% between duplicates, and on average, the
assay protocols had intra- and interassay coefficients of variation
less than 10% and 15%, respectively." We did not provide information on
specific hormones. However we provided information on mean and SE for
salivary progesterone, which can be used to estimate
inter-assay variation.
News
from
the
NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ, PNAS, Lancet and JAMA
Evolution:
Human ancestor had small thumbs
Fossil analysis reveals that an ancestor of modern humans would have
made a terrible hitch-hiker.Past reconstructions of the hands of the
hominin Australopithecus afarensis assigned scattered bones to
individuals and single fingers. Campbell Rolian at the University of
Calgary, Canada, and Adam Gord...
Alzheimer's
disease: Mapping the brain's decline
by Sarah C. P. Williams
Imaging the brains of Alzheimer's patients provides insights into the
way this insidious disease progresses.
Prostate
cancer: Understanding why
by Nicola McCarthy
Two papers published in Cancer Discovery unveil the molecular
mechanisms that underpin the improved response of patients with
high-risk prostate cancer to ionizing radiation in the presence of
androgen deprivation therapy.
Ageing:
Re-evaluating oxidative damage in ageing
by Isabel Lokody
Damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS) are thought to be drivers of
mitochondrial mutagenesis and ageing. However, thorough investigation
of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations has been hampered by a lack of
methods to accurately detect such mutations, which are rare. Using a
recently developed, hig...
Population
neuroscience [Social Sciences]
by Falk, E. B., Hyde, L. W., Mitchell, C., Faul, J., Gonzalez,
R.,
Heitzeg, M. M., Keating, D. P., Langa, K. M., Martz, M. E., Maslowsky,
J., Morrison, F. J., Noll, D. C., Patrick, M. E., Pfeffer, F. T.,
Reuter-Lorenz, P. A., Thomason, M. E., Davis-Kean, P., Monk, C. S.,
Schulenberg, J.
The last decades of neuroscience research have produced immense
progress in the methods available to understand brain structure and
function. Social, cognitive, clinical, affective, economic,
communication, and developmental neurosciences have begun to map the
relationships between neuro-psychologic...
Decision
making under risk across the life span [Economic Sciences]
by Tymula, A., Rosenberg Belmaker, L. A., Ruderman, L.,
Glimcher, P. W., Levy, I.
It has long been known that human cognitive function improves through
young adulthood and then declines across the later life span. Here we
examined how decision-making function changes across the life span by
measuring risk and ambiguity attitudes in the gain and loss domains, as
well as choice con...
Childhood
abuse and biological risk [Psychological and Cognitive Sciences]
by Carroll, J. E., Gruenewald, T. L., Taylor, S. E.,
Janicki-Deverts, D., Matthews, K. A., Seeman, T. E.
Childhood abuse increases adult risk for morbidity and mortality. Less
clear is how this 'toxic' stress becomes embedded to influence health
decades later, and whether protective factors guard against these
effects. Early biological embedding is hypothesized to occur through
programming of the neura...
Infants
expect social group members to act alike [Psychological and Cognitive...
by Powell, L. J., Spelke, E. S.
The short ontogenetic time courses of conformity and stereotyping, both
evident in the preschool years, point to the possibility that a central
component of human social cognition is an early developing expectation
that social group members will engage in common behaviors. Across a
series of experim...
Evolution
of Old World complex societies [Anthropology]
by Turchin, P., Currie, T. E., Turner, E. A. L., Gavrilets, S.
How did human societies evolve from small groups, integrated by
face-to-face cooperation, to huge anonymous societies of today,
typically organized as states? Why is there so much variation in the
ability of different human populations to construct viable states?
Existing theories are usually formul...
[Editors'
Choice] A One-Two Punch for Aging and Brain Malformations
by Eid, T.
Prescriptions
for elderly people vary widely across US
by McCarthy, M.
How many and which drugs elderly Americans take depends a great deal on
where they live, a new study has found.1Researchers at the Dartmouth
Atlas Project looked at prescription drug use by Medicare...
AHA:
Severe Obesity in US Youth Is Increasing and Difficult to Treat
by Mitka M.
Although US childhood
obesity rates
overall have been flat over the past several years, the prevalence of
severe obesity has increased. An estimated 4% to 6% of all US youths
are severely obese, and there's evidence that they have a 'much more
adverse cardiometabolic risk profile' than their overwei...
Biomarkers
and
Aging
in
the
News
Media
• Learning
helps preserve memory
Karin Caifa reports that when older adults step out of their comfort
zone and learn new things, it helps their memory.
• Twins:
Can you pick the smoker?
Here's something to think about the next time you put a cigarette to
your lips: The skin around those lips is going to look older, faster.
• Stigma
lingers for deadliest cancer
Because one of the strongest risk factors for lung cancer is smoking,
we've come to the conclusion that people diagnosed with lung cancer
somehow deserve it, that it was brought on by their own "bad" behavior.
• Sunny
Regions Reflect Lower ADHD Rates: Study
Researchers wonder whether sunlight protects children, adults from
distracted behavior
• Gardening,
Housework May Help Boost Your Heart Health
Study of Swedish seniors found a reduced death risk of up to 30 percent
• More
Weight Gain in Pregnancy Tied to Higher Autism Risk for Kids: Study
However, this doesn't mean more weight causes neurodevelopmental
disorder, authors stress
• Blood
Test for Pancreatic Cancer Shows Promise in Early Trial
But the screen is meant only for people already at high risk for the
deadly illness, experts say
• Newly
Identified Biomarkers Promise Earlier, Less Invasive Colon Cancer
Detec...
A newly discovered set of gene variations may help oncologists
detect colorectal cancer before it is too late.
• Stroke
Affecting Younger People Worldwide, Study Shows
Preventive measures urgently needed to reverse this trend, researchers
say
• The
10 States Most Addicted to Smoking
Antismoking efforts are hard to avoid nowadays. Cigarette packaging got
graphic new warning labels in 2012 (though they'll soon be replaced
thanks to a big-tobacco lawsuit), and 38 states have at least some
restrictions as to where a person can light up. (New York State has
even banned smoking in public parks.) But despite this increased
regulation, plenty of Americans continue to smoke?like chimneys.
• Gravitation
Theory Explains Baldness: 'Vicious Cycle' Of Testosterone Surplus...
Hormones and other aspects of aging have long been suspected
to cause balding, but could gravity also play a role?
• UCLA
scientists may have found "biological clock" in genes
Scientists find female breast tissue older than chronological age on
average, may explain increased cancer risk with age
• Could
a Good Night's Sleep Guard Against Alzheimer's?
Study found that older people who got less sleep had more of the
disease's hallmark plaques in their brains
• Major
Alzheimer's risk factor linked to red wine target
The major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), present in
about two-thirds of people who develop the disease, is ApoE4, the
cholesterol-carrying protein that about a quarter of us are born with.
But one of the unsolved mysteries of AD is how ApoE4 causes the risk
for the disease. Researchers have found a link between ApoE4 and SirT1,
an "anti-aging protein" that is targeted by resveratrol, present in red
wine.
• Study:
Vitamin D Supplements May Not Raise Risk for Kidney Stones
However, researchers found age, weight and gender are factors
• New
evidence for role of specific virus causing type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a disease caused by the destruction of the
insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It is often diagnosed in
childhood and requires life-long treatment with daily insulin
injections. It is associated with an increased risk for long-term
complications which decrease the quality of life and average
life-expectancy.
• Growing
up poor, stressed impacts brain function as adult
Poverty, coupled with stress, has long-lasting effects on brain
function, according to a new study. Researchers found that test
subjects who had lower family incomes at age 9 exhibited, as adults,
greater activity in the amygdala, an area in the brain known for its
role in fear and other negative emotions. These individuals showed less
activity in areas of the prefrontal cortex, an area in the brain
thought to regulate negative emotion.
• First
Children Do Better In School: Parents 'Play Tough' With Oldest To Set
E...
Two economists conclude that first children do better in school
because their parents feel the need to establish a 'tough' reputation
so that younger children fall into line.
• Whites
at Highest Risk for Irregular Heart Rhythm, Study Finds
It's possible that a gene in European ancestry is linked to atrial
fibrillation, researcher says
• Older
Men Gain Little From PSA Test: Study
Researchers followed Medicare recipients for 3 years
• Daily
Walk May Cut Your Breast Cancer Risk
Study findings are good news for postmenopausal women, experts say
• Aircraft
noise linked to heart disease, study suggests
Exposure to high levels of aircraft noise is associated with an
increased risk of cardiovascular disease, find two studies published on
bmj.com today.
• Postpartum
depression spans generations, animal study suggests
A recently published study suggests that exposure to social stress not
only impairs a mother's ability to care for her children but can also
negatively impact her daughter's ability to provide maternal care to
future offspring.
• Animal
personalities are more like humans than first thought
A study has found for the first time that, just like humans,
unpredictability is also a consistent behavioral trait in the animal
world.
NIH
Press
Releases
NIH
and CDC launch registry for sudden death in the young
Initiative will collect population-based information on sudden,
unexpected deaths in youth.
Large
study to examine if vitamin D prevents diabetes
NIH-funded research tests much-touted vitamin in people with
prediabetes.
Tanning
gene linked to increased risk of testicular cancer, according to NIH ...
Nearly 80 percent of white men carry a variant of the gene.
Brain
may flush out toxins during sleep
NIH-funded study suggests sleep clears brain of damaging molecules
associated with neurodegeneration.
Women's
Health Initiative reaffirms use of short-term hormone replacement the...
Latest results provide new details on risks and benefits of therapy
across age groups and time.
NIH
study identifies gene for alcohol preference in rats
Research advances understanding of genetics in alcohol consumption.
NIH
Announces 2013 High-Risk, High-Reward Research Awards
NIH commits to 78 awards to support exceptional innovation in
biomedical research.
Study
evaluates population-wide testing, early treatment for HIV prevention
NIH co-funded trial will build on results of landmark HPTN 052 study.
NIH
calls for research projects examining violence
Particular consideration to be given to firearm violence.
Funding
Announcements
The Iinstitute of Medicine
has an exciting research opportunity with funding available to analyze
data from the Air Force
Health Study (AFHS; also known as the Ranch Hand study).
The AFHS
was a Congressional directed epidemiologic study intended to evaluate
the frequency and nature of adverse health effects that might be
related to exposure to military herbicides used during the Vietnam
Conflict. Standardized, comprehensive health and personal
characteristics data and multiple biospecimens were collected for 20
years in 6 cycles (1982, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1997, and 2002). In all,
2,758 subjects participated in at least one cycle exam.
Access to the materials is open to qualified researchers
whose use of the AFHS assets is deemed appropriate by an IOM committee
that evaluates the scientific merit of proposals and the National
Academies' Institutional Review Board. The program accepts proposals as
part of a rolling submission process; funding is available to support
the most meritorious pilot studies and small-scale research projects.
Please check www.iom.edu/afhs for the current announcement and links to
information on the data and submission materials. In the case
of questions, please contact Anne Styka, MPH, Research Director, Air
Force Health Study, Board on the Health of Select Populations,
Institute of Medicine (202.334.3941, astyka@nas.edu).
Analysis
of Genome-Wide Gene-Environment (G x E) Interactions (R21)
Funding Opportunity PAR-13-382 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The purpose of this FOA is to provide support for research
projects that involve secondary data analyses of existing genome-wide
data from genome-wide association studies or other large genomic
datasets for the purpose of identifying gene-environment interactions.
The ultimate objective of this funding opportunity is the discovery of
complex interplays of genes and environmental factors in human
populations which may disclose novel genetic susceptibilities to
environmental exposures or a greater understanding of the role of
environmental exposures in the development, progression, and severity
of complex human diseases.
NIH
Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (Parent
R13/U13)
Funding Number: PA-13-347
Expiration Date: September 8, 2016
Academic
Research Enhancement Award (Parent R15)
Funding Number: PA-13-313
Expiration Date: September 8, 2016
Behavioral
and Social Science Research on Understanding and Reducing Health
Disparities (R21)
Funding Number: PA-13-288
Expiration Date: September 8, 2016
Mid-life
Reversibility of Early-established Biobehavioral Risk Factors (R01)
Funding Opportunity RFA-AG-14-006 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA)
issued by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) is to solicit two-year
Research Project Grant (R01) applications that propose to explore the
potential for midlife plasticity of biobehavioral or psychological
systems affected by early life disadvantage. In order to speed the
development of novel intervention strategies, applicants are encouraged
either to use existing human cohort data to identify circumstances that
mitigate or exacerbate the effects of early adversity or to use human
and/or animal models to test the feasibility of developing
interventions aimed specifically at increasing malleability in
adulthood of risk persistence mechanisms.
High
Priority Behavioral and Social Research Networks (R24)
Funding Opportunity RFA-AG-14-007 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA)
issued by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), working in part with
funds contributed by the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Research (http://obssr.od.nih.gov/index.aspx ), is to provide
infrastructure support for advancing development of specific emerging
and high priority interdisciplinary areas of behavioral and social
research of relevance to aging. The infrastructure support will
facilitate research networks through meetings, conferences, small scale
pilots, training, and dissemination to encourage growth and development
of specified priority areas and of resources for the field at large.
Projects are solicited that will develop, strengthen, and evaluate
transdisciplinary approaches and methods for basic behavioral and/or
social research.
Regional
and
International Differences in Health and Longevity at Older Ages
(R01)
PA-13-125
Expiration Date September 8, 2016
Obesity
Policy
Evaluation Research (R01) PA-13-110
Expiration Date: May 8, 2016
PAR-12-186 DBSR
Macroeconomic Aspects of Population Aging (R01)
Expiration
date:
10/04/2014
Biodemography
of
Aging
(R01),
Funding
Number:
PAR-12-078
Expiration Date: March 4, 2014
Events:
Conferences:
66th
Annual
Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Wednesday,
11/20 to Sunday, 11/24, 2013
Sheraton New Orleans - New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, Louisiana
Deadline for abstract submissions was March 15,
2013
2014
Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America
Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MA, May 1-3, 2014
Abstract deadline was September 27, 2013
2014
Annual
Scientific Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society
(AGS), May 15 - 17,
2014
Orlando, Florida
Abstract deadline: December 2, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST
The
26th REVES
meeting on health expectancy
Edinburgh, UK, May 28-30,
2014
Abstract submission deadline: February 1, 2014
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This
Newsletter is supported by a grant from the National
Institute on
Aging, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)
If you would like to unsubscribe please notify us at ngavrilova@babies.bsd.uchicago.edu
