Congratulations to Dr. Sruti Shiva who was recently awarded a new NIH-National Institute on Aging (NIA) R01. Dr. Shiva has been awarded annual direct costs of over $500,000 for her grant titled, “The relationship between blood based bioenergetics and muscle function, mobility, and aging.” This proposal was submitted in response to the competitive funding opportunity titled NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01) under funding opportunity number PA-20-185.
Older adults experience declining mobility, which leads to diminished quality of life, high health care costs, and thus constitutes a major health care problem. It is unclear what factors lead to mobility decline, but energy production by the mitochondrion is thought to play a role. This longitudinal study utilizes new methodology to measure systemic mitochondrial function in blood cells of older people over time, to understand the role of mitochondrial function in age-associated physical function decline.