Jacksonville — UF cut the ribbon on the Jacksonville Aging Studies Center, known as JAX-ASCENT, at the UF Health Jacksonville campus on Monday.
The center was created to provide researchers access to resources, experts and equipment to expand their portfolios and apply for grants, said Leon Haley Jr., M.D., dean of the UF College of Medicine Jacksonville.
The National Institute of Health approved a five-year about $3.6 million grant for the center submitted by Marco Pahor, M.D., a professor and founding chair of the Department of Aging & Geriatric Research.
“Our goal was to develop a research study facility focused on aging and underserved minority populations in Jacksonville,” Pahor said.
The 5,000-square-foot facility is on the second floor of the Professional Office Building on Boulevard Street. It took about five months to renovate, Pahor said.
A study called SARA-INT, is in the works for the center. The study focuses on sarcopenia, the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle in those who are over 50.
Jennifer Bowman, clinical research manager, is currently the only employee at JAX-ASCENT.
About 50 people were on the registry of research candidates as of last week, said Tina Bottini, assistant dean of research administration and compliance at the College of Medicine Jacksonville.
For more information or to sign up for the registry, visit UFJaxagingstudy.com or call 866-386-7730.
Follow Madison Rubert on Twitter @MadisonRubert and contact her at madisonrubert@ufl.edu.
