RF1AG096055
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
IDENTIFYING MULTI-SCALE MECHANISMS FOR AGE-RELATED INCREASE IN METABOLIC COST OF WALKING - MOBILITY SERVES AS A SURROGATE FOR WELL-BEING WITH AGE-RELATED LIMITS TO WALKING FUNCTION THAT INCLUDE: INCREASED ENERGY COST AND DECREASED SPEED. IN 2021, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING CONVENED INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENTISTS TO IDENTIFY MULTI-SCALE MECHANISMS FOR MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS IN AGING AND IDENTIFIED MULTIPLE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO ELEVATED METABOLIC COST AND REDUCED WALKING SPEED. A FOUNDATIONAL AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCE IN WALKING FUNCTION EMERGED - THE SO CALLED ‘DISTAL TO PROXIMAL SHIFT’ IN NEUROMECHANICAL EFFORT. OLDER WALKERS RELY MORE ON PROXIMAL HIP RATHER THAN DISTAL ANKLE MUSCLE-TENDONS TO POWER GAIT. THIS PROPOSAL LEVERAGES A MULTI-SCALE, COMPUTATIONAL-EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO PROBE CELLULAR-TO-BEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS LINKING THE ‘DISTAL-TO PROXIMAL’ SHIFT TO INCREASED ENERGY COST AND DECREASED WALKING SPEED WITH AGE. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT OLDER ADULTS SELECT SLOWER GAIT SPEEDS TO PRIORITIZE STABILITY OVER ECONOMY, AND THESE ‘SAFER’, PROXIMALLY- BIASED GAITS COMBINE WITH DECLINES IN NEUROMUSCULAR EFFICIENCY CREATING A ‘LOSE-LOSE’ COMBINATION THAT ELEVATES THE METABOLIC COST OF WALKING. AIM 1: CHARACTERIZE AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOWER-LIMB JOINT MECHANICS AND METABOLIC COST OF ‘ECOLOGICALLY-RELEVANT’ WALKING. APPROACH: GATECH WILL RECRUIT N=60 [N=30 (15M/15F) YOUNG ADULTS (YA) 18 – 30Y AND N=30 (15M/15F) OLDER ADULTS (OA-SED) ≥60Y]. OUTCOMES: NET METABOLIC POWER, LOWER-LIMB MUSCLE ACTIVITY AND JOINT KINEMATICS/KINETICS DURING ‘ECOLOGICALLY-RELEVANT’ OUTDOOR WALKING WITH A NOVEL SENSOR SUIT USING CUSTOM-TRAINED MACHINE-LEARNING ALGORITHMS. ANKLE AND HIP EXOSKELETONS TO PROBE JOINT-LEVEL MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY. EXPECTED RESULTS: OA-SED>YA NET METABOLIC POWER ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER, MORE PROXIMAL AND LESS EFFICIENT LOWER-LIMB JOINT POWER. AIM 2: EXAMINE HOW AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN PROXIMAL-TO-DISTAL MUSCULOTENDON STRUCTURE AND CELLULAR/MOLECULAR MUSCLE FUNCTION IMPACT METABOLIC COST OF WALKING. APPROACH: IHMC WILL RECRUIT YA+OA-SED (SAME AS AIM 2) PLUS N=30 (15M/15F) ≥60Y PHYSICALLY ACTIVITY OA (OA-FIT). OUTCOMES: TREADMILL OUTCOMES FROM AIM 2, DISTAL-TO-PROXIMAL MUSCULOTENDON PROFILING, LATERAL GASTROCNEMIUS (DISTAL) AND VASTUS LATERALIS (PROXIMAL) MUSCLE BIOPSIES FOR MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION, MYOFIBER TYPE/SIZE/GROUPING, TARGETED MITOCHONDRIAL/METABOLIC MOLECULAR ANALYSES. EXPECTED RESULTS: OA-SED < OA-FIT
Awardee
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
Georgia
United States
Geographic Scope
State-Wide
Georgia Tech Research was awarded
Age-Related Metabolic Cost of Walking: Multi-Scale Mechanisms Study
Project Grant RF1AG096055
worth $3,224,215
from National Institute on Aging in August 2025 with work to be completed primarily in Georgia 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 Understanding the mechanisms underlying the age-related changes in gait biomechanics and the impact on the increased metabolic cost of walking (R01 Clinical Trial Optional).
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 8/20/25
Period of Performance
8/15/25
Start Date
7/31/29
End Date
Funding Split
$3.2M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$3.2M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
RF1AG096055
SAI Number
RF1AG096055-2732477557
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
EMW9FC8J3HN4
Awardee CAGE
1G474
Performance District
GA-90
Senators
Jon Ossoff
Raphael Warnock
Raphael Warnock
Modified: 8/20/25