The UF Institute on Aging seeks to understand all aspects of aging through research, health care and education so that we can all live healthier, more independent lives.

Spanning the entire spectrum of biomedical investigation, including molecular biology, animal studies, clinical research, behavioral sciences, epidemiology and engineering, the institute’s research efforts address its overarching goal: to increase scientific knowledge that leads to better ways to maintain or restore independence of older people.

The institute hosts the division of biology of aging, several multicenter clinical trials and the NIH-funded Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, which studies physical disability and effective prevention therapies.

The institute’s work proceeds to the patient bedside as faculty practice translational research, which takes basic findings and applies them to the health of older adults. The institute and department of aging and geriatric research offer geriatric primary care through UF Health Senior Care. UF board-certified geriatricians staff the practice.

Additionally, the institute has a geriatrician embedded in the emergency room of UF Health Shands Hospital, while a second geriatrician is available for inpatient medical services via the Acute Care for the Elderly unit. The institute also offers care through Oak Hammock at UF, a retirement community with long-term and rehabilitative care as well as an assisted living facility.