German Center for Aging Research

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The German Center for Aging Research (DZFA) at the University of Heidelberg was a research institute of Germany and the state of Baden-Württemberg on the subject of aging research . It was founded on September 30, 1995 and began its research in mid-1996 . Due to a lack of federal and state funding , it was closed on December 31, 2005. As a successor, the Aging Research Network was established in 2006 under the direction of Konrad Beyreuther .

The founding director was the psychologist and gerontologist Ursula Lehr (1995–1998), on whose initiatives since the Stuttgart Future Congress in 1988 the institution's foundation can be traced back.

The center had an interdisciplinary orientation and cooperated u. a. with the World Health Organization and numerous gerontological and geriatric institutions . It explored aging processes in adulthood in all their complexity, especially in the physical and mental aspects as well as its social and societal implications.

The DZFA was a foundation under public law based in Heidelberg ; The federal government and the state each contributed 50% to the financing. In the course of the general budget constraint, the funds of the research center were reduced.

Departments

  • Development Research Department
  • Department of Social and Ecological Gerontology
  • Department of Epidemiology

In 2006, the Department of Social and Ecological Gerontology became the Department of Psychological Aging Research at the Psychological Institute of Heidelberg University, headed by Hans-Werner Wahl . The Epidemiology Department was integrated into the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in 2006 , where it is run as the Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research Department and headed by Hermann Brenner .

Head of the center

  • Hermann Brenner was the scientific director of the foundation and head of the epidemiology department of the DZFA
  • Hans-Werner Wahl was the head of the DZFA's Department for Social and Ecological Gerontology
  • Head of the development research department was initially Peter Martin, later Andreas Kruse became provisional director.

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