HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDIES
AROUND THE WORLD
This project fosters a cross-country research agenda by encouraging the development of new health and retirement studies around the world and their harmonization with existing studies that are comparable to the Health and Retirement Studies (HRS), and facilitating further innovations among this network of surveys. Click here to learn more about the studies.
Principal Investigator:
David Weir, PhD (U Michigan), Principal Investigator
Rose M Li, MBA, PhD (RLA), Project Manager
NOTICES
HRS ATW Colleagues,
Please see below several important updates from NIH related to international research collaborations, particularly changes affecting foreign subawards and mechanisms available for collaborative international projects. Given the potential impact on application development, partnership structures, and funding strategies, we hope this information will be helpful as you plan for future collaborations and applications. Please feel free to share this information with others in your networks who may be involved in international research activities.
Reminders
- NIH supports international research because responsible global collaboration can drive scientific progress.
- NIH will no longer allow foreign subawards in applications. US subawards are still allowed.
- Foreign institutions may apply to any NOFO in which they are eligible to apply but cannot have any foreign subawards.
- All research supported at international sites should have (see here):
- Clear scientific rationale to be conducted in a foreign country rather than in the US
- Direct potential to generate knowledge applicable to understanding, improving, or protecting the health of Americans.
Resources
- NIH has created new activity codes, Collaborative International Research Project (PF5) and Linked International Research Project (RF2) for foreign collaborations.
- This is the accompanying parent NOFO: PA-26-002: NIH Collaborative International Research Project (Parent PF5 Clinical Trial Optional)
- Here are the Foreign Subaward Policy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- See this 5-minute video about the NOFO: Introduction to the NIH Collaborative International Research Project (PF5) Application and Award Structure
- Another good reference: What Are the Components of a Collaborative International Research Project (PF5) Application and What Should Be Included? | Grants & Funding
Call for Papers: Emerging Challenges in Long-Term Care and Caregiving October 2, 2026 — Cambridge, MA
The NBER Center for Aging and Health Research is planning a conference on emerging challenges in long-term care and caregiving. The conference, which is made possible with support from the National Institute of Aging, will be organized by Brian McGarry (University of Rochester and NBER) and Corina Mommaerts (University of Wisconsin, Madison and NBER). It will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday, October 2, 2026. Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, will deliver keynote remarks.
The meeting will focus on several factors, including Medicaid and Medicare policy, household characteristics that affect care utilization, the ways in which different diseases affect caregiving needs, labor market policy, and immigration policy.
The organizers welcome submissions on any subject related to long-term care and informal caregiving. Submissions that use novel data sources are of particular interest. They hope to include perspectives from economics as well as other disciplines such as sociology, public health, and medicine. All researchers, including those who are not NBER affiliates and who are early in their careers, are welcome to submit papers. Topics of particular interest include:
- Innovative models for supporting informal caregivers
- Alternatives to nursing home care, including assisted living facilities or home- and community-based services
- Expanded Medicaid funding for home- and community-based services
- Approaches to improving the quality and reducing the cost of formal care, including innovative payment models
- Long-term care insurance
- Unique challenges faced by patients living with dementia and their families
- Cross-national differences in approaches to long-term care
- Novel data, including the measurement of informal care and administrative linkages
To be considered for presentation, papers or extended abstracts must be submitted via the following link by 11:59pm ET on Friday, June 31, 2026: https://conference.nber.org/confsubmit/backend/cfp?id=LTCf26
Authors chosen to present papers will be notified by early August, 2026.
The NBER will cover hotel and economy-class travel for up to two authors of each paper that is selected for presentation.
Please share this call with others who may be interested in submitting a paper. Logistical questions about this meeting should be directed to confer@nber.org; other questions about the meeting content should be directed to Sarah Holmes Berk at sholmes@nber.org.
Harmonization Recommendations from the Gateway to Global Aging Data
Many of our network and NIA collaborators were recently included in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. You can view their published work via the link below:
Volume 81, Issue Supplement_1, February 2026
Harmonization Recommendations from the Gateway to Global Aging Data
https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/issue/81/Supplement_1
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