The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing Receives US and Irish Funding

Posted on: 04 October 2011

The Irish Longitudinal  Study on  Ageing (TILDA) has recently been awarded grants of  €700,00 from the National Institute of Health and National Bureau of Economic Research, USA and the Health Research Board in Ireland to research the harmonisation of TILDA  technology based health measures to other longitudinal datasets in Europe and the USA. The group will also study the impact of the recession in Ireland on physical and mental health and develop early biomarkers of frailty and age related decline.  The research will be conducted in collaboration with the Geary Institute at UCD, NUI Galway, the University of Mannheim, Germany, Cambridge University and The NBER, Massachusetts, USA. 

Lead academic for the research, Trinity Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Rose Anne Kenny, stated: “A global challenge is to improve quality of life in later years through reduction in the burden of disease and disability. TILDA is in a unique position to respond to this need and inform other countries’ longitudinal studies because of the novel and detailed health assessments employed in the study. Many diseases associated with age share risk factors and mechanisms and early recognition of frailty offers an opportunity to develop treatments and preventative measures not available at present.”

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a large-scale, nationally representative study of 8178 people aged 50 and over in Ireland. It is the most ambitious adult study ever carried out in Ireland and represents a step-change in terms of data, knowledge and understanding of ageing with which to inform policy and novel research. One of TILDAs unique features is the in-depth physical and cognitive assessments using new technologies.

The first wave of TILDA was completed in early 2011 and the second wave commences in January 2012.

TILDA is supported by grants from the Department of Health, Atlantic Philanthropies and Irish Life.