Supporting healthy aging for World Trade Center responders
Official title: Promoting healthy aging among WTC responders: Frailty trajectories and intervention strategies
Funded at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · NIH-11074511 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work helps us understand and address aging-related health issues, like frailty, in World Trade Center responders as they get older.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $599,561 |
| NIH project number | 5U01OH012473-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11074511 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this type of work are World Trade Center responders, particularly those who are aging and may be experiencing or at risk for frailty.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are not World Trade Center responders or who are not experiencing aging-related health concerns may not directly benefit from this specific research.
What this research studies
Many World Trade Center responders are reaching age 65 and beyond, which means they face a higher risk for conditions related to aging. We are looking closely at a common aging syndrome called frailty, which can make people more vulnerable to health problems. Our team has developed a special tool to identify frailty in responders based on their regular health check-ups. We are also gathering information on physical measures and the effects of frailty, such as falls, to better understand how it progresses and how we can help.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better ways to identify frailty early and develop strategies to help World Trade Center responders maintain their health and independence as they age.
How similar studies have gone: Our team has already developed a WTC-specific frailty assessment tool and gathered preliminary data showing a significant percentage of responders meet criteria for frailty, indicating a strong foundation for this work.
Where this research is happening
-
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ko, Fred Chau-Yang — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Study coordinator: Ko, Fred Chau-Yang
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Understanding and improving healthy aging for World Trade Center responders
This study is looking at the health of World Trade Center responders as they age, especially to see who might be at risk for becoming frail, and it aims to find ways to help improve their quality of life.
-
MyGoals for Healthy Aging among people at risk for Alzheimer’s dementia
A multi-center trial tests whether a combined program addressing poverty-related stress and executive function can slow aging and reduce risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease in adults.
-
Healthy aging in Black adults and its links to dementia risk
This grant follows a large group of Black adults to understand how aging, brain health, and life experiences influence Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
-
How early-life spending shape aging and dementia risk later in life
A Stanford-led study looks at how state and county spending in childhood may influence midlife thinking skills and the risk of dementia in later life.
-
Costa Rica long-lived older adults follow-up (Wave 4)
We will re-contact Costa Rican adults aged 70 and older (and their spouses) to collect health, thinking, and blood information to find what helps people live longer and stay mentally sharp.
-
Mapping tiny blood vessels in the brain's memory area and how they relate to Alzheimer's changes
Researchers are using ultra-high-resolution brain scans and tissue staining to map tiny blood vessels in the entorhinal cortex to learn how those patterns relate to Alzheimer's disease.
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.