About CITRA

CITRA Brochure
Please download the CITRA brochure by clicking on the file below.

The Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging (CITRA) was funded by the National Institute on Aging in October, 2003. It is one of six Edward R. Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging funded nationwide. A unique collaboration of social science, clinical research and mental health, the center unites researchers from Cornell's Ithaca campus; research clinicians in geriatric medicine at the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell in Manhattan, and psychiatric researchers at Cornell's Psychiatric Division of the Cornell Institute for Geriatric Psychiatry in Westchester, N.Y. Co-Directors of CITRA are Karl Pillemer and Elaine Wethington (Cornell-Ithaca), Mark Lachs (Division of Geriatrics, WCMC), and Martha Bruce (Cornell-Westchester).

One important hallmark of the CITRA model is the cultivation and maintenance of close ties to human service providers from throughout the five boroughs of New York City. CITRA receives guidance from a Community Advisory Committee, which is made up of representatives from a diverse group of aging services organizations who were initially recruited through a formal agreement with the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, Inc. (CSCS). These community-based practitioners provide a valuable “real world” perspective which informs the research process and increases the relevance and usefulness of the research.

This tie between community based organizations, social scientists, and medical researchers provides a living learning laboratory where research is conceptualized, conducted, and disseminated with continuous feedback from invested stakeholders. Thus, CITRA's mission is not only the origination of high quality research, but the creation of a dynamic infrastructure to support these research partnerships.

For additional detail about CITRA and its programs, contact Leslie Schultz, Program Administrator (Cornell-Ithaca), at ls30@cornell.edu, or 607-255-4553.

CITRA is grateful to it’s community partners, in particular: