Aging is one of the most urgent public health challenges of the 21st century, with the population of adults aged 65 and older growing rapidly and living longer with complex medical, social, and cognitive needs. Understanding the factors that shape healthy aging—and the inequities that lead to disproportionate burdens of chronic disease, disability, and dementia—is essential for developing effective prevention strategies, supporting caregivers, strengthening health systems, and improving quality of life across the life course.

The Aging Research Accelerator convenes interdisciplinary scholars across Rollins and beyond to advance rigorous, equity‑centered research on the multiple determinants that shape cognitive and functional health across the life course. We integrate population science, exposomics, biostatistics, health policy, health services, and community‑engaged approaches to generate actionable evidence for prevention, early detection, and better outcomes in older adults and their care partners. 

The group's key strengths include

• Air pollution and climate health
• Biological aging
• Cancer epidemiology
• Dementia epidemiology
• Digital health
• Spatial methods for place‑based aging research
• Long-term care
• Program evaluation
• Sleep and cardiometabolic epidemiology