Noncommunicable Diseases & Aging

The Noncommunicable Diseases & Aging sub-cluster focuses on NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental health, as well as the risk factors for, and underlying causes of, these conditions.  The cluster is also interested in the interaction of NCDs and population aging with economic and social development and the evaluation of polices to address NCDs and aging.

Program on the Global Demography of Aging (PGDA)

The Aging/NCD Sub-Cluster works with PGDA, the Program on the Global Demography of Aging at Harvard University, a center supported by NIA, led by David Bloom to promote aging related research in the University.

Seminars / Work in Progress Lunches

We will have aging/NCD related seminars as part of the GHP Departmental Thursday Brown Bag Seminar.  In addition, PGDA supports the Friday Work in Progress Lunch at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies where researches can present Aging/NCD related work.

Special Events

Health And Aging In Africa: Early Results From A Longitudinal Study: Thursday 26th October 2017, 12:00PM to 1:30PM, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge MA which is part of Worldwide Week at Harvard.

Official Launch of the GHP Project on Access to Care for Cardiometabolic Diseases: Tuesday, December 12th, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, Harvard Faculty Club (20 Quincy Street, Cambridge). Space is limited, please RSVP here: http://HPACC.rsvpify.com

 

The 5th Annual State of Global Health Symposium will be on  “Global Aging and Health”, Thursday, March 29, 2018, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“Muse and Brews” Discussion Group

The discussion group will meet monthly, starting Wednesday November 8 at 5pm-6pm to discuss recent articles in Global Aging and NCDs.

 

 

Workshops

PGDA, together with Stanford University, Fudan University, and Hohenheim University, supports an annual workshop on aging. The next workshop is:

“INEQUALITY & AGEING” University of Hohenheim, Germany, 4-5 May, 2018

Pilot Project Grants

Funding for Pilot projects on aging up to $75,000 for Harvard Faculty and Research Scientists are available through PGDA. These are aimed at developing research proposals for larger – particularly from NIH. The next deadline for applications will be 31st January 2018.

Postdoctoral and Student Research Grants

Funding for aging related research by students and postdoctoral fellows is available through PGDA. These grants can fund research activities including travel and data collection.  Grants are up to $10,000 but usually are below $5,000. The next deadline for applications will be 31st January 2018.

Harvard Based Longitudinal Studies in Aging

We encourage researchers to become involved in our Harvard based panel studies on aging in India, led by David Bloom, and South Africa, led by Lisa Berkman.

Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI)

Training in NCDs and Aging

We encourage researchers and advanced doctoral students to undertake training programs in aging and NCDs. In particular, we suggest:

RAND Summer Institute: The Mini-Medical School for Social Scientists, July 9–10, 2018.

RAND Summer Institute: Demography, Economics, Psychology, and Epidemiology of Aging conference, July 11–12, 2018.

Funding for attendance is available from the organizers.

The Bernard Lown Scholars Program in Cardiovascular Health Program is open to researchers from low-and-middle income countries who work on cardiovascular disease.

Courses in NCDs and Aging at HSPH

Course Number Course Name Units Term
GHP 207 1 Risk Factors and Population Health (Danaei) 2.5 Spring 1
International Experiences
GHP 298 Field Trip to Delhi, India (Cash/Jaacks) 1.25 Winter
GHP 297 Field Trip: Health Reform and Community Medicine in Chile (Bossert) 1.25 Winter
Cardio-metabolic Diseases *
GHP 213 Global Cardiovascular Disease Prevention – Methods, Study Designs and Case Studies (Danaei) 2.5 Summer
ID 537 3 Obesity Epidemiology (Chavarro/Hu) 2.5 Fall 1/2
ID 541 4 Advanced Topics in Obesity Epidemiology and Prevention (Malik/Gortmaker) 2.5 Spring 1
EPI 223 Cardiovascular Epidemiology I (Jensen) 2.5 Fall 2
EH 521 Environmental Cardiology (Peters/Dockery) 1.25 Fall 2
Cancer
ID 510 Nutritional Epidemiology of Cancer (Smith-Warner/Giovannucci) 2.5 Fall 2
EPI 213 Epidemiology of Cancer (Mucci/Giovannucci) 2.5 Spring 1
EPI 224 5 Cancer Prevention (Wilson) 2.5 Spring 2
EPI 510 Global Cancer Epidemiology (Boffetta/Lagiou) 1.25 Winter
Respiratory Disease
ID 269 Respiratory Epidemiology (Gold/Dockery) 1.25 Fall 2
Aging
EPI 517 Issues in Frailty (Hannan) 1.25 Spring 1

 Note: It is common for offerings and prerequisites to change. Always check the Harvard catalog for the most up-to-date information.

1 Prerequisites: EPI 201, EPI 202, and one of the following: BST 210, BST 211, BST 213, GHP 525, S052 (GSE) or S030 (GSE)

3 Prerequisites: ID 538 or ID 201 or [(BIO200 or BIO201 or BIO202&203 or BIO206&207 or BIO206&208 or BIO206&209) and (EPI500 or EPI201 or EPI208 or EPI505)]. ID538 may be taken concurrently.

4 Prerequisites: (ID 200 or EPI 200 or EPI 201 or EPI 208 or EPI 505) and ID 537

5 Prerequisites: EPI202 or ID201; may not be taken concurrently

* Students interested in cardio-metabolic diseases may also be interested in the following nutrition courses:

  • ID 217 (Nutrition and Global Health [Fawzi], 2.5 credits, Spring 1/2)
  • IGA 422 (Global Food Politics and Policy [Paarlberg], 4 credits, Fall 1/2)

Pooling Aging Surveys Working Group

Faculty and researchers often pool national surveys of aging in order to study worldwide patterns of aging and NCD.  The cluster supports a working group to share resources and information around data cleaning and pooling of aging and NCD related surveys.

Resources for Secondary Data on NCDs and Aging

We encourage students and researchers to use secondary data to investigate NCD and aging issues. A list of resources is given below.

  • ALP: American Life Panel
  • CAMDI: Central America Diabetes Initiative
  • CHNS: China Health and Nutrition Survey
  • CRELES: Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study
  • Select DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys
  • CCRDC: California Census Research Data Center
  • ELSA: English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing
  • HRS/AHEAD: (US) Health and Retirement Study/Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan)
  • ICPSR: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (University of Michigan)
  • IFLS: Indonesian Family Life Survey
  • JSTAR: Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement
  • HAALSI: Health and Aging in Africa
  • LASI: Longitudinal Aging Study in India
  • LSOA: Longitudinal Study of Aging (US)
  • MHAS: Mexican Health and Aging Study
  • MxFLS: Mexican Family Life Survey
  • NACDA: National Archive on Computerized Data on Aging
  • National Vital Statistics System United States
  • NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  • NHCS: National Health Care Survey
  • NHIS: National Health Interview Survey
  • NHIS-D: National Health Interview Survey on Disability
  • PSID: Panel Study of Income Dynamics (Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan)
  • SAGE: Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health
  • SHARE: Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe
  • TILDA: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing
  • S. Bureau of the Census
  • S. Census Files on Elderly, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
  • S. Mortality Estimates and Projections, University of California at Berkeley
  • HMD: Human Mortality Database