The world's aging population is exploding, and, with it, the incidence of age-related disease. Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are one of the fastest growing chronic conditions. The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias is expected to triple by 2050, ballooning to more than 130 million people. 

For every person affected by aging is a caregiver, a group that suffers in a related yet different way. Nurse scientists who study aging collect patient and caregiver experiences to inform interventions that not only to strengthen and uplift them but to lighten their load. They develop technological supports that improve older patients' symptoms and study novel approaches that aim to slow their descent into dementia.