Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108AGING IN THE 21S T CENTURY 18 functioning and longer lifespans. The genetic association discoveries in the HRS to come will likely shape the future of how we measure certain traits (Singer 2011). The capacity of the longitudi- nal HRS to adapt its measurement of traits (like personality or physical functioning) in future waves makes it uniquely valuable to the study of genetic contributions to human behavior. The GWAS technology will foster studies of survivorship, longevity, and genetic determinants of aging along with studies of complex disease traits, physiological measures and functions, biomarkers and physical performance, as well as behavioral phenotypes. Exploration of “gene by environment” interactions in a variety of health, social, and behavioral domains will be possible. The longitudinal nature of the HRS greatly enhances both the power to detect genetic effects and provides an important, under-studied oppor- tunity to examine the genetic influence on the age-dependent changes in key health indicators over time. The ultimate goal is to uncover genetic variations in a population that can be used as biomarkers of healthy aging and longevity. Tackling Alzheimer’s No disease of aging is more feared, or more bur- densome, than dementia. With the aging of our population, it looms ever larger. Congress and the National Institutes of Health have begun to act on the need for more research on this condition, with a significant increase in funding for the NIA. The HRS has been studying cognition for over twenty years and is responding to the national effort by launching its Healthy Cognitive Aging Project (HCAP). Working with several of its inter- national partner studies, the HRS is spearheading a global study of dementia in older populations, generating population-representative estimates of prevalence, providing longitudinal data for epidemiologic investigation, and gauging its impact on individuals, families, and the health care system. The new HCAP project will make HRS and international data even more valuable in understanding who is at risk for dementia and how that risk can be reduced as people age.