Longer Life Foundation grant letters due Feb. 11

Group plans to fund four or five pilot studies

The Longer Life Foundation is seeking applications from Washington University faculty for research funding for 2011.

The foundation funds pilot and feasibility research projects “to study factors that assist in predicting mortality and morbidity of selected populations and to research methods to promote improvements in longevity and health by analyzing the effects of changes in medicine and advances in public health practices.”

The foundation is a cooperative effort between the university and the Reinsurance Group of America. Its activities are coordinated through the Longer Life Center in the School of Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science.

The group is encouraging inquiries from scientists seeking funding for research into long-term prognoses for common disorders and diseases. Preferring to fund clinical research, the Longer Life Foundation is particularly interested in studies that look for methods to predict disease progression, survival and longevity; interventions to prevent disease and promote longevity; and studies that seek to determine the impact of obesity and of frailty on health and longevity.

Those eligible for grants include young investigators with at least two years of research experience who are interested in longevity research and established investigators developing new directions in research involving health and longevity. Postdoctoral researchers are not eligible.

The group plans to fund four or five grants in 2011, with a funding period extending from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012. Each grant will provide between $20,000 and $50,000 in direct costs. Letters of Intent are due by Feb. 11. Researchers chosen to submit formal applications will be notified by April 15, and those applications will be due by May 27.

More information on the Longer Life Foundation and a listing of studies that have been funded in the past can be found at the foundation’s website: www.longerlife.org. Those with additional questions may contact Joan M. Heins in the Longer Life Center at 286-1912 or jheins@wustl.edu.