The University of Pennsylvania’s Institute on Aging was created in 1979 to improve the health of the elderly by increasing clinical and basic research as well as educational programs focusing on normal aging and age-related diseases across the entire Penn campus.

Housed within Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, the Institute on Aging is deeply committed to forging new paths in basic science and clinical care for the benefit of older adults.

Under the directorship of John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, nearly 200 Institute on Aging fellows, representing faculty from 12 schools at Penn and aging experts outside of Penn, are focused on age-related areas of interest, including healthy aging, diseases of aging, public policy, law, nursing and economics.

In 2012, Penn ranked second highest for total research funding received from the National Institute of Health’s National Institute on Aging (NIA). Current research projects are wide-ranging, investigating neurodegenerative diseases, frailty, and longevity, among other areas.

The Institute on Aging hosts several events per year on the latest research in aging, many of which are open to the public.