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Important Events in NIA History
December 2, 1971 — The White House Conference on Aging recommends the creation of a separate National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.
May 31, 1974 — Public Law 93-296 authorizes the establishment of a National Institute on Aging and mandates the Institute develop a national comprehensive plan to coordinate the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (succeeded by the Department of Health and Human Services) involvement in aging research.
October 7, 1974 — The National Institute on Aging is established.
April 23, 1975 — First meeting of the National Advisory Council on Aging is held.
1984 — NIA funds Alzheimer's Disease Centers, where researchers at medical institutions nationwide focus on prevention and treatment while improving care and diagnosis.
1986 — Per congressional direction, NIA funds the Federal Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, a coordinating organization made up of more than 35 Federal agencies.
November 14, 1986 — P.L. 99-660, section 501-503, authorizes NIA's Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center as part of a broad program to conduct research and distribute information about Alzheimer's disease to health professionals, patients and their families, and the general public.
November 4, 1988 — P.L. 100-607 establishes the Geriatric Research and Training Centers, renamed the Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Centers in 1990 and charged with conducting research on diseases that threaten independent living.
1991 — NIA sets up the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, an ongoing consortium of academic medical centers and others to facilitate clinical trials research.
1992 — NIA and the University of Michigan begin the Health and Retirement Study, which follows more than 20,000 people at 2-year intervals, providing data from pre-retirement to advanced age to enable multidisciplinary study of the causes and course of retirement.
1993 — The first Edward Roybal Centers for Research on Applied Gerontology are authorized, focusing on translational research to convert basic and clinical findings into programs that improve the lives of older people and their families.
NIA launches the Longevity Assurance Genes initiative, an interactive network of funded researchers looking for genetic clues to longevity, using a variety of organisms such as C. elegans, Drosophila and yeast.
1994 — The first Demography of Aging Centers are funded to provide research on health, economics and aging and to make more effective use of data from several national surveys of health, retirement and long-term care.
The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation is launched to characterize in diverse populations the biological and psychosocial influences related to the transition to menopause.
1995 — NIA’s Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in Basic Biology of Aging are established to further the study of the basic processes of aging.
1996 — NIA introduces Exercise: A Guide from the National Institute on Aging, providing encouragement and evidence-based guidance specifically for older adults.
1997 — The Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research are funded to investigate the variability of health differences experienced across racial and ethnic groups, as well as the mentoring of new scholars in health disparities research.
2000 — NIA distributes established mouse cDNA microarray/clone set containing more than 15,000 unique genes to 10 designated academic centers worldwide.
2001 — In a unique private-public partnership, NIA joins the Osteoarthritis Initiative to bring together resources and commitment to the search for biological markers of osteoarthritis.
NIA and the Icelandic Heart Association announce collaboration on a vast study on the interactions of age, genes and the environment. The collaboration extends 34 years of data on the health of 23,000 Icelandic residents into the new millennium.
2003 — NIA and the American Federation for Aging Research — in collaboration with the John A. Hartford Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies and Staff Foundation — establish a public-private partnership to support clinically trained junior faculty to pursue careers in aging research.
2004 — NIA launches the Longevity Consortium, a network of investigators from several large-scale human cohort studies working in collaboration with individual basic biological aging researchers to facilitate the discovery, confirmation and understanding of genetic determinants of healthy human longevity.
NIA, in conjunction with other federal agencies and private companies and organizations through the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, leads the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.
NIA launches Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span, a multidisciplinary community-based, longitudinal epidemiologic study examining the influences and interaction of race and socioeconomic status on the development of age-associated health disparities among socioeconomically diverse African Americans and whites in Baltimore.
2006 — NIA leads the NIH conference “AD: Setting the Research Agenda a Century after Auguste D,” a conclave assessing the state of current Alzheimer's disease research and the most promising routes to progress.
2007 — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sponsors the Summit on Global Aging in collaboration with NIA to call attention to challenges and opportunities worldwide from population aging.
2008 — NIA convenes a Biology of Aging Summit to review its research portfolio, identify areas of opportunity, and facilitate formulation of comprehensive research plans for the future.
Longitudinal Study of Aging is expanded to examine to include Insights into the Determinants of Exceptional Aging and Longevity (IDEAL). IDEAL is a sub-study of the Baltimore function in late life to prevent disease and disability in a small but growing segment of the aging population.
NIA celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). Launched in 1958, the BLSA is the most comprehensive and longest running longitudinal examination of human aging in the world.
2009 — NIA collaborates with HBO Documentary Films on The Alzheimer’s Project, an Emmy Award winning, multi-platform (television, web, DVD and print) public health series.
2011 — NIA launches the Go4Life campaign with public and private partners from a variety of aging, fitness and provider organizations. The goal is to promote exercise and physical activity nationwide for people 50 and older.
NIA and the Alzheimer’s Association lead an effort to update diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease to reflect the full spectrum of the disease, marking the first time in 27 years clinical and research criteria are changed.
The National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA)") is signed into law. NAPA requires a coordinated national effort to find ways to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and to improve care and services. NIH, represented by NIA, participates in the federal Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services.")
NIA leads the formation of the Trans-NIH GeroScience Interest Group. The group promotes discussion, sharing of ideas, and coordination of activities within the NIH research community, working on mechanisms underlying age-related changes, including those which could lead to increased disease susceptibility.
2012 — HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announces the NAPA-required National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease"). NIA plays a critical role in developing the first goal of the plan, which is to Effectively Treat or Prevent Alzheimer’s by 2025.
The NIA Intramural Research Program is reorganized to recognize new paradigms in the field of aging research. The program now integrates labs and resources, bringing together those who share similar research interests from different vantage points.
NIA organizes the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Summit 2012: Path to Treatment and Prevention"). Some 500 researchers and advocates attend the meeting, which results in guidelines aimed at advancing Alzheimer’s disease research.
NIA launches the International Alzheimer’s Disease Research Portfolio"). Designed in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association, the database captures the full spectrum of research investment and resources and enables public and private funders of Alzheimer’s research to share and review funding data.
NIA leads development of the NIH Toolbox for Neurological and Behavioral Function"), which offers researchers a free set of brief tests to assess cognitive, sensory motor and emotional function in toddlers to older adults.
2013 — NIA hosts the Robert N. Butler Memorial Lecture to honor its founding director, Robert N. Butler, M.D., (1927-2010) who put in place the rationale and organization for a broad program of basic, biomedical, social and behavioral research that remains at the core of NIA’s efforts. NIA grantee Ronald D. Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic presented the lecture, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Butler’s research priority.
The NIA Summer Institute on Aging Research is renamed the Butler-Williams Scholars Program in honor of NIA’s first two directors — the late Robert N. Butler, M.D., and T. Franklin Williams, M.D., whose tenures at NIA focused on developing a diverse and dedicated research workforce in aging.
NIA, with other institutes and the private sector, cosponsors the Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias: Research Challenges and Opportunities ")Summit, led by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The workshop focused on such conditions as Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and vascular dementia.
The Trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group (GSIG) hosts the Advances in Geroscience: Impacts on Healthspan and Chronic Disease Summit. With NIA leadership, GSIG organized and co-sponsored this conference with the Alliance for Aging Research and the Gerontological Society of America, with additional private sector support provided through the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH).
NIH, with NIA leadership, leads U.S. participation in a new international effort to address Alzheimer’s disease research and care. NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., and NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D., were part of a delegation attending the G-8 Dementia Summit in London, the goal of which was to develop a coordinated global strategy to address the growing global burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
2014 — NIA’s 40th anniversary is celebrated at the Gerontological Society of America annual meeting in Washington, DC. A symposium, From Cells to Society: NIA at 40 — Past, Present, and Future, commemorated the Institute’s first four decades and considered the future of research on aging.
The Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) is launched. A groundbreaking collaboration among NIH, FDA, 10 biopharmaceutical companies, and several non-profits, the project is designed to transform the current model for developing new diagnostics and treatments by jointly identifying and validating promising biological targets of disease. NIA leads the AMP Alzheimer’s disease component.
NIH and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) join forces to support a clinical trial to test effective, evidence-based, individually tailored interventions to prevent fall-related injuries. The award, supported by the NIA and PCORI") as part of the Falls Injuries Prevention Partnership, is expected to total some $30 million over a five-year project. This study aims to integrate proven falls reduction strategies into a cohesive intervention that can be adopted by many health care systems.
2015 — NIA leads the NIH development of the first Professional Judgment Budget for Alzheimer’s disease"). Mandated by Congress to inform legislators of the strategy and resources needed to meet research goals of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease"), this “bypass budget” suggests the amount of additional funds needed in Fiscal Year 2017 to accelerate the pace of discovery leading to prevention or treatment of Alzheimer’s by 2025.
September is designated as Go4Life Month in collaboration with the White House Conference on Aging. The designation spotlights the importance of physical activity and exercise for older adults and energizes partnerships and activities related to this important health campaign, featuring events with the U.S. Surgeon General, the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and other national, state and local partners.
2016 — The Trans-NIH GeroScience Interest Group with essential collaboration and support from the New York Academy of Sciences, American Federation of Aging Research, and Gerontological Society of America, developed the “Disease Drivers of Aging: 2016 Advances in Geroscience Summit")”, at the request of the research community. The focus was on how chronic diseases – specifically cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes – affect biological aging.
NIA announces the Fiscal Year 2018 Professional Judgment Budget for Alzheimer’s disease.")
2017 — NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D., presented at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, in Davos Switzerland on “Curing Alzheimer’s: The Research Imperative.”(link is external)(link is external)")
NIH launched the Alzheimer's Disease Research Implementation Milestone Database") , a user-friendly web-based tool to track NIH funding initiatives and activities, targeting milestones aimed at achieving National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease") ultimate research goal.
NIA and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation, with support from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, convened the Cognitive Aging Summit III. ")This scientific meeting was built upon priorities and research directions identified at two previous Cognitive Aging Summits, held in 2007 and 2010 respectively.
NIA announces the Fiscal Year 2019 Professional Judgment Budget for Alzheimer’s disease.")
2018 — NIA facilitated the first National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons with Dementia and Their Caregivers.")* The summit *focused on the research needed to develop, evaluate, implement and disseminate comprehensive care, service and support for people with dementia, their families and other caregivers.
The National Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services issued a final report(link is external)(link is external)") from the first National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons with Dementia and Their Caregivers.
The 2018 NIH Alzheimer's Research Summit featured progress toward achieving the Alzheimer’s disease research implementation milestones") and to continue development of an integrated multidisciplinary research agenda necessary to enable precision medicine for Alzheimer’s.
NIA announces the Fiscal Year 2020 Professional Judgment Budget for Alzheimer’s disease.")
2019 — NIA’s 45th anniversary is celebrated at the Gerontological Society of America annual meeting in Austin, Texas. A symposium, Strength in Age: Harnessing the Benefits of NIA’s 45 Years, commemorated the Institute’s landmark achievements.
NIA launched the Alzheimer's & Dementia Outreach, Recruitment & Engagement Resources (ADORE)") website to support the recruitment and retention of participants in clinical trials and studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. ADORE resources include recruitment plans, communication materials, toolkits and guides, videos, and related research articles.
NIA released Together We Make the Difference: National Strategy for Recruitment and Participation in Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Clinical Research") with co-facilitation by the Alzheimer’s Association and many other organizations and experts.
The third Geroscience Summit"), organized by the trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group, provide a forum for novel interactions between disease-focused professional societies and foundations, and the community of researchers and practitioners of geroscience").
NIA announces the Fiscal Year 2021 professional Judgment Budget for Alzheimer’s disease.")
**2020 **— NIA, in collaboration with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), ")announced a new Intramural Research Program Center for Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias") (CARD). NIH will open its CARD laboratories on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2022.
NIA played a leading role in NIH’s COVID-19 research initiatives, including through RADx and other efforts to save lives").
In response to increased awareness of injustices in U.S. society, the NIA director and deputy director blogged on Combatting racial inequality in aging research").
The Dementia Care, Caregiving, and Services Research Summit Virtual Meeting Series") took place July 10 and 21, and August 13, 2020. It focused on a major priority area for NIA: research with and for people with dementia and their caregivers. Participants shared individual perspectives on critical scientific gaps and opportunities to inform NIH research priorities. Input may also inform the efforts of other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and advocacy groups.
NIH releases the Fiscal Year 2022 professional judgement budget for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) research Leading the Charge: Expanding Collaborative, Cross-Disciplinary Research for the Prevention, Treatment, and Care of Dementia").
2021 — NIA releases the Fiscal Year 2023 professional judgment budget for AD/ADRD research Transforming Research: To Prevent, Detect, Treat, and Provide Better Care for Dementia").
NIA hosted the Alzheimer’s Research Summit: Path to Precision Medicine for Treatment and Prevention, April 19-22, 2021"). Participants included leading scientists and other innovators, public health advocates, and other stakeholders who identified gaps and opportunities") toward the goal of precision medicine for Alzheimer’s and related dementias prevention and treatments.
NIA’s Imbedded Pragmatic Alzheimer's disease and related dementias Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Collaboratory researchers track adverse events related to COVID-19 among people who are older adults or frail or who have dementia").
NIA continued to help advance") the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) initiative to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing.
NIA relaunched Alzheimers.gov(link is external)"), which provides federal government information and resources on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and vascular dementia.
**2022 **— NIH officially opened the Roy Blunt Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Research") (CARD) intramural laboratories on the NIH main campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
NIA helped mark the 10th anniversary of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease(link is external)"), which arose from the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA). Major scientific accomplishments have included illuminated genetics, improvement in Alzheimer’s disease research models, expanded biomarkers, and novel drug targets and therapies.
NIH released its Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias fiscal year 2024 professional judgment budget ")and 2022 scientific progress report").
NIA also commemorated the 10th anniversary of the NIH-wide Geroscience Interest Group") (GSIG). This group consists of program officials and scientists across NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices who share an interest in the latest advances in this emerging field of research.