Collage of images revealing the journey of adult life including volunteering, gathering with friends, loneliness, work, doctor visits, play, exercise.

Welcome to the UW–Madison Institute on Aging!

IOA 50th Anniversary logoOur center is a hub of cutting-edge research on health and well-being as individuals travel across the decades of adult life.  We look outward to broad influences of class, culture, and race/ethnicity as well as inward to fine-grained influences of biology, genetics, and neuroscience.  Between these two, we examine proximal influences from work and family life, personal thoughts and feelings, and health practices and behaviors. Collectively, our work:

  • Emphasizes the potential and strengths of individuals as they age
  • Improves understanding of pathways to disease and impairments of growing older
  • Advances knowledge of resilience in the face of challenge and adversity

In 2023 we are celebrating the 50th Birthday of the Institute on Aging!

Read about our history and achievements.

Latest Newsletters

Our newsletters inform researchers and members of the general public about current advances coming out of UW research on aging and national research from IOA’s Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. Visit our Newsletters page to learn more.

IOA Newsletter

Aging News

Optimism May Help with Depression Linked to Mobility Challenges

MIDUS Newsletter

Purpose in Life

Purpose Newsletter Front Page

Events

The Advances in Social Genomics Conference Series (TAGC)

June 8-9, 2023: Showcases scholarship that considers biodemographic factors across the life course that shape health and aging processes.

SMPH Collaborate

June 23, 2023: An event series for investigators, researchers, and learners from the SMPH Office of Basic Research, Biotechnology and Graduate Studies.

33rd IOA Annual Colloquium

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Showcasing the latest research and resources on positive aging, with Speakers, a Poster Session, and a Health & Resource Fair.

Purple design Event Postcard with photograph of three older women smiling together for a group photo in light pink shirts.

Hilldale Lecture in Social Sciences featuring Dr. Eileen Crimmins, USC

Monday, October 30th, 2023 – 4:30pm at the Memorial Union

Sponsored by the Center for Demography of Health & Aging.

Opportunities

MIDUS Affective Neuroscience Project Postdoctoral Fellow

The MIDUS Affective Neuroscience Project team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is seeking a postdoctoral scholar to analyze and publish on data from the national longitudinal Midlife in the US study.

T32 Training Grant: Biology of Aging & Age Related Diseases

The Biology of Aging and Age-Related Diseases T32 Training Grant is currently looking for postdocs interested in joining the program.

USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

Learn about gerontology certificate and degree programs, as well as research opportunities on aging.

Get Involved!

Check out what’s happening at the Institute on Aging.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement

The UW–Madison Institute on Aging embraces diversity as a source of strength, creativity, and innovation in carrying out its broad mission.  As a place of work, we value the contributions of each employee, respecting individual identities, cultural backgrounds, abilities, and opinions.  As a research institute, we are committed to advancing knowledge about health and well-being in adulthood and later life with awareness of differences defined by demographic factors (age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status) and wide-ranging psychological and social factors.  As a forum for outreach, application, and public health education, we welcome the participation of all who want to learn about the work that we do.  Our ultimate goal is to be inclusive.

UW–Madison Land Acknowledgement

Map of Wisconsin showing Native American Tribal Lands

The University of Wisconsin–Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin.

We acknowledge the circumstances that led to the forced removal of the Ho-Chunk people, and honor their legacy of resistance and resilience.  We recognize and respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation as well as all the First Nations within the boundaries of the state of Wisconsin.

To learn more about aging-related research conducted at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, visit the websites of the Institute on Aging Affiliates.