RF1AG094985
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
EARLY LIFE ADVERSITY, CUMULATIVE LIFE STRESS, AND CELLULAR AGING IN MIDLIFE WOMEN AND OFFSPRING - BACKGROUND: THERE IS AN INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED ROLE OF STRESS IN ELEVATING DISEASE RISK. DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH MAY BE IN PART DUE TO GREATER EXPOSURE SOCIAL STRESSORS LIKE EARLY CHILDHOOD STRESSORS, AND UNSAFE NEIGHBORHOODS, THROUGH ACCELERATING BIOLOGICAL AGING AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL, ALTHOUGH THIS HAS RARELY BEEN EXAMINING LONGITUDINALLY. OUR AIM IS TO CONDUCT A NOVEL EXAMINATION OF STRESS AND ITS LINKS TO RATE OF CHANGE IN MARKERS OF CELLULAR AGING AMONG WOMEN AND THEIR OFFSPRING DURING IMPORTANT TRANSITION PERIODS (E.G., MENOPAUSE, PUBERTY) TO UNDERSTAND POTENTIAL PATHWAYS TO EARLY CHRONIC DISEASE DEVELOPMENT. FEMALES AND BLACKS TEND TO HAVE GREATER EXPOSURE TO STRESSORS. WE HAVE A REMARKABLE OPPORTUNITY TO RE-RECRUIT A LONGITUDINAL COHORT OF BLACK AND WHITE GIRLS WHO ARE NOW MIDLIFE WOMEN IN THE PERIMENOPAUSAL PERIOD. METHOD: THIS RENEWAL PROPOSAL (R01AG059677) IS TO CONDUCT A 40 YEAR FOLLOW UP OF THE PROSPECTIVE NHLBI GROWTH AND HEALTH STUDY (NGHS), A COHORT OF CHILDREN TO EXAMINE THE LIFE COURSE AND INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF CELLULAR AGING. BLACK AND WHITE GIRLS WERE FOLLOWED PROSPECTIVELY FROM ROUGHLY 10 TO 20 YEARS OLD, AND WE RE-ENGAGED THEM AT 40 YEARS OLD, WITH ASSESSMENTS OF STRESS, CELL AGING AND METABOLIC SYNDROME. WE PROPOSE AN ASSESSMENT 10 YEARS LATER, TO PREDICT CHANGE IN BIOLOGICAL AGING FROM 40 TO 50 YEARS OLD. WE WILL REPEAT ASSESSMENTS OF CELL AGING (TELOMERE LENGTH, EPIGENETIC CLOCKS, INFLAMMATION) AND SECONDARILY, METABOLIC SYNDROME IN 624 NGHS WOMEN AND CELLULAR AGING AND BMI IN THEIR CHILDREN. FOR AIM 1, WE WILL ASSESS WHICH ASPECTS OF LIFECOURSE STRESS—E.G., STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS, PERCEPTIONS OF STRESS, AND NEIGHBORHOOD STRESS, ARE ASSOCIATED WITH RATE OF ACCELERATED CELLULAR AGING OF THE WOMEN AT AGE 50, TESTING DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATIONS OF CHILDHOOD, MIDLIFE, AND CUMULATIVE STRESS. SECONDARY ANALYSES WILL USE CAUSAL MEDIATION MODELING TO TEST POTENTIAL MEDIATING ROLES OF EARLY MENOPAUSE, AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS (NUTRITION, SLEEP, EXERCISE). FOR AIM 2, WE WILL ASSESS THE EXTENT TO WHICH MATERNAL STRESS AND OFFSPRING STRESS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGE IN OFFSPRING CELL AGING AND BMI, AND MEDIATING ROLES OF EARLY PUBERTY AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS. SIGNIFICANCE & INNOVATION: THIS WILL ONE OF THE FIRST PROSPECTIVE MULTIGENERATIONAL STUDIES TO TEST LIFESPAN STRESS PREDICTORS OF DISTINCT INDICES OF BIOLOGICAL AGING AND TO ASSESS STRESS EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING EPIGENOME. GIVEN THE PROSPECTIVE NATURE AND RANGE OF STRESS MEASURES, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DRAMATICALLY ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF LIFESPAN STRESS ON AGING BIOLOGY, AND THE ROLES OF EARLY PUBERTY AND MENOPAUSE. A MORE GRANULAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TYPES AND TIMING OF SOCIAL STRESS THAT IMPACT BIOLOGICAL AGING PROCESSES IS NECESSARY FOR FURTHERING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MALLEABLE DRIVERS OF AGING, AND ULTIMATELY INFORMING PROGRAMS THAT PROMOTE HEALTH FOR ALL GROUPS.
Funding Goals
TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
California
United States
Geographic Scope
State-Wide
Related Opportunity
San Francisco Regents Of The University Of California was awarded
Stress & Cellular Aging in Women & Offspring: NGHS Follow-Up
Project Grant RF1AG094985
worth $3,304,237
from National Institute on Aging in September 2025 with work to be completed primarily in California United States.
The grant
has a duration of 4 years and
was awarded through assistance program 93.866 Aging Research.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed).
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/24/25
Period of Performance
9/15/25
Start Date
9/14/29
End Date
Funding Split
$3.3M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$3.3M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
RF1AG094985
SAI Number
RF1AG094985-2963795625
Award ID URI
SAI UNAVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
Public/State Controlled Institution Of Higher Education
Awarding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Funding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Awardee UEI
KMH5K9V7S518
Awardee CAGE
4B560
Performance District
CA-90
Senators
Dianne Feinstein
Alejandro Padilla
Alejandro Padilla
Modified: 9/24/25