Understanding the mechanisms underlying the age-related changes in gait biomechanics and the impact on the increased metabolic cost of walking (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

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The National Institute on Aging (NIA)invitesR01applicationsthat proposehuman studiesto better understand the mechanisms underlying compensatory gait, posture and molecular changes that contribute to slower walking speed and increased metabolic cost of walking. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) encourages interdisciplinary collaborations to design integrative approaches that explore interactions among multiple systems (e.g., skeletal, muscle, tendon, somatosensory and central nervous). This NOFO also encourages innovative approaches such as computational modeling, imaging and sensor technologies, machine learning and artificial intelligence to disentangle compensatory gait alterations with aging that contribute to increased metabolic cost of walking and fatigue. Areas of interest include: 1) mechanisms and effects of central nervous system changes; 2) neuromuscular changes; 3) skeletal muscle bioenergetics 4) computational modeling and simulation; and5) changes in tissue structure and function (e.g., muscle-tendon complex, extracellular matrix).