Muscle health and aging in postmenopausal women
Official title: MASS: Muscle and disease in postmenopausal women
Funded at State University of New York at Buffalo · NIH-11532334 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This NIH grant supports a study in older, postmenopausal women to understand how insulin and blood sugar relate to muscle loss over time and whether this differs by race/ethnicity.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | State University of New York at Buffalo NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Amherst, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | May 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $43,200 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG078249-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11532334 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Postmenopausal women enrolled in the WHI, particularly within the Long Life Study 2 sub-cohort, who are willing to provide remote blood samples.
✕Less likely to help
Women outside the WHI or those not participating in remote sample collection may not directly benefit from this study.
What this research studies
The study follows women from the Women’s Health Initiative to track changes in muscle mass and how insulin-glucose balance may influence those changes. It uses a new at-home sample collection method and finger-prick blood tests to monitor biology without frequent clinic visits. Researchers will look at how aging, diabetes risk, and race/ethnicity interact to affect muscle loss and risk of functional decline.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could help tailor prevention strategies to maintain muscle strength and reduce falls for aging women, especially those at higher risk.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work has linked diabetes risk and muscle loss, with ongoing exploration of how glycemic control affects muscle over time; this project adds a scalable remote sampling approach.
Where this research is happening
-
State University of New York at Buffalo
Amherst, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wactawski-Wende, Jean — State University of New York at Buffalo
- Study coordinator: Wactawski-Wende, Jean
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.