Research & Programs

With NIA support, the LCC focuses on three research themes that are crucial to understanding the demography and economics of our aging society. These themes leverage our intellectual strengths and unique resources, and they have profound implications for the development of interventions, policies, and practices to improve the health and well-being of aging populations in the U.S. and around the world.

  • Later Life-Course Population Trends in Context: Determinants within and across space, time, and social location of population trends at older ages in physical and cognitive functioning (including AD/ADRD), disability, morbidity, mortality, health and well-being.
  • Life-Course Dynamics as Disparity Mechanisms: Life-course pathways through which social, behavioral, environmental, institutional, and structural risks lead to disparities in healthy aging, including the unequal distribution of protective factors (e.g., income adequacy, positive early determinants, and health behaviors).
  • Interrelationships of Work, Family, Community Participation, and Health: The interconnectedness of work and other social engagement for later adult health outcomes, an under-researched area.

To support research in these themes, the LCC offers an annual Pilot Grant Program and a Network for Data-Intensive Research on Aging.