The Center on Aging and the Life Course is an interdisciplinary program designed to foster research on and education about the aging process.  The university-wide center draws upon the expertise of over 50 faculty members to lead scientific inquiries of why we age and how we can maintain or enhance physical and mental functioning over the life course.  We seek to optimize the aging experience.  The Center, therefore, supports interventions and translational research to enhance the quality of life in adulthood.

Faculty Associates of the Center bring expertise from a variety of fields to the study of aging.  Disciplinary affiliations include, but are not limited to:  biological sciences, family studies, foods and nutrition, health promotion, nursing, pharmacy practice, psychology, sociology, speech science, and veterinary pathobiology.  Extramural research support for the faculty associates has exceeded $4 million per year in each of the past 5 years.  The Center has supported pilot projects by Purdue University investigators, investing $126,023 over the past nine years.  These pilot projects yielded $2,958,503 in extramural support for research and led to two patents during this time.

Innovative educational programming has been the hallmark of the Center’s educational initiatives, first organized in 1996 via the Gerontology Program.  Graduate students may complete an interdisciplinary minor in gerontology, which emphasizes interdisciplinary breadth related to aging.  Purdue University is the first university to offer a dual-title PhD program in gerontology and related disciplines, a program launched in 2005.  Students complete all requirements for a discipline-based PhD and integrate the study of aging into their plan of study.  The Center also supports a unique residential learning program, in which a graduate student resides in an independent-living senior community.  This program has already won national awards for innovation in gerontological education.