Collaborating Networks and Centers
The Stress Measurement Network aims to advance the science of stress and health by improving how stress is measured in research. Through curated resources, expert-led workshops, and collaborative initiatives, the network supports researchers in selecting and applying robust stress measures. Directed by Drs. Elissa Epel, Wendy Berry Mendes, Aric Prather, and George Slavich, the network fosters greater conceptual and methodological clarity, helping to strengthen stress science in ways that inform research, intervention, and policy.
The Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center (RADC) is an NIA-funded center dedicated to discovering better ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent Alzheimer’s and other aging-related dementias. The RADC hosts several longitudinal studies including the Religious Orders Study, the Rush Memory and Aging Project, the Minority Aging Research Study, and the African American and Latino Cores, the Pathology Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Study, and the Mexican Teachers Cohort-Cognitive Study. The RADC hosts an established Research resource Sharing Hub, which provides access to data and biospecimens to external investigators. Our established partnership with the RADC will enable access to the Resource Sharing Hub and collaborations with the Center Director Dr David A. Bennett, an expert in community-based cohort studies that includes the identification of the molecular basis of psychosocial factors. Their approach includes genomic, experiential, psychosocial, and medical risk factors for common diseases and conditions of aging in which all participants are brain donors paired with deep blood and brain omics.
The Dog Aging Project is a nationwide, NIH-funded initiative that seeks to understand the biological and environmental factors that influence healthy aging in dogs. By integrating longitudinal health, behavioral, genetic, and environmental data from tens of thousands of companion dogs, the project serves as a model for aging research that is both translational and participatory. Co-led by Drs. Daniel Promislow and Kate E Creevy, the Dog Aging Project provides open-access data, fosters collaborative science, and seeks to improve both canine and human healthspan through discoveries at the interface of genomics, behavior, and aging biology.
Zoonomia is an international research consortium that leverages whole-genome sequences from hundreds of mammal species to understand the evolution and function of the genome. By sequencing and comparing the genomes of hundreds of diverse mammals, Zoonomia identifies genomic regions that are evolutionarily conserved across all species—revealing elements essential to mammalian biology—as well as regions that have changed in just a few lineages, shedding light on the genetic basis of species-specific traits. Directed by Drs. Elinor Karlsson and Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Zoonomia provides open-access comparative genomic resources that advance the study of development, disease, and conservation across species, including humans.
Species360 is a global conservation nonprofit that curates the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), the world’s largest database of animal records from over 1,300 zoos, aquariums, and wildlife institutions across more than 100 countries. Through standardized data collection and collaborative analytics, Species360’s Conservation Science Alliance transforms this valuable data resource into tools and publications that enable evidence-based management of wildlife populations in human care and supports global species conservation. Led by Chief Executive Officer, Jim Guenter, Species360 partners with scientists, conservationists, and policymakers to improve animal welfare, biodiversity monitoring, and species survival planning.