IARP introduces platform to provide centralized decision support system for scientists and policy makers

The International Aging Research Portfolio (IARP) is an independent non-profit initiative serving the aging research community. As the only centralized knowledge management system containing international grant databases, publications and project information, IARP provides highly granular relevant information to scientists, funding organizations and policymakers, as well as serving as a platform for collaboration and research. Presently, the system incorporates grant databases from the National Institutes of Health, European Commission (Cordis), Canadian Institutes of Health Research and other sources and provides a categorized directory of research projects linked to related publications within the MEDLINE abstract database.

Aging research spans many areas of natural and social and behavioural sciences and requires a high degree of interdisciplinary and international cooperation. The goal of IARP is to provide a centralized decision support system for scientists, research institutes, funding organizations and policymakers involved in aging research. It enables scientists to track research progress in all areas related to aging research, easily map funded projects through the advanced graphical trend and analysis generation facility, and plan further research. IARP also enables policymakers to make the most informed decisions about aging research funding based on facts and evidence.

In June 2008 the first prototype of the IARP system was created by an independent interdisciplinary team of gerontologists and computer scientists to analyze government and private spending on aging research. Over 50 volunteers contributed to the development of the system since then.

The scientific advisory board, chaired by one of the pioneers of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Charles Cantor, is comprised of over 30 scientific leaders and thinkers in natural, social and behavioural sciences related to aging research. IARP uses automatic classification algorithms to categorize research projects into categories related to aging research. The system allows for the scientific advisory board members and approved category editors to classify the research projects manually and train the automatic classification algorithms.