International Longevity Centre Global Alliance - a multinational consortium consisting of member organizations.

28th May 2021

ILC-Israel's members have been working on many research projects. This year we have already published a variety of research articles on gerontological subjects related to the Coronavirus, stress, cognitive performance, pulmonary disease, ageism, physical balance, and more.

A Current Study Related to the Coronavirus

In Israel, due to the high percentage of people receiving the second vaccination, the corona pandemic has declined significantly and life is returning to normal. We are currently working on analyzing the data of a study on the effects of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of older adults in Israel. In our study we compare the pandemic-related experiences of two groups of older adults aged 75+: holocaust survivors and a control group. We hypothesize that holocaust survivors are a socially weaker group and therefore may be more vulnerable to negative mental health effects from the corona virus pandemic.

Brief List of Recent Publications by Members of ILC Israel

Sara Carmel:

Carmel, S., & Tur-Sinai, A. (2021). Cognitive decline among European retirees: Impact of early retirement, nation-related and personal characteristics. Ageing and Society, 1-27. doi:10.1017/S0144686X21000064
Norm O’Rourke:

O’Rourke, N., Sixsmith, A., Kirshner, G., & Osher, Y. (2021). Perceived cognitive errors and quality of life for older adults with bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 287, 433-440.

Goral, A., Feder-Bubis, P., Lahad, M., Sando, G., O’Rourke, N., & Aharonson-Daniel, L. (in press). Development and initial validation of the Continuous Traumatic Stress Response Scale among adults exposed to persistent security threats. PloS ONE.

Ella Cohn-Schwartz:

De la Fuente-Núñez, V., Cohn-Schwartz, E., Roy, S., & Ayalon, L. (2021). Scoping review on ageism against younger populations. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Khalaila, R., Vitman-Schorr, A., & Cohn-Schwartz, E. (2021). A prospective association between tooth status and cognitive performance among older adults in Europe. Aging and Mental Health. 1-8.

Cohn-Schwartz, E., & Ayalon, L. (2021). COVID-19 Protective Behaviors: The Role of Living Arrangements and Localities. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 1-5.

Shapira S., Yeshua-Katz D., Cohn-Schwartz, E., Aharonson-Daniel, L., Sarid O., & Clarfield AM. (2021). A pilot randomized controlled trial of a group intervention via Zoom to relieve loneliness and depressive symptoms among older persons during the COVID-19 outbreak. Internet Interventions-The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioral Health, 100368.

Yaacov Bachner:

Samson, T., Bachner, Y. G., & Freud, T. (2021). Thought Patterns Mediate the Development of Secondary Traumatic Stress in Social Workers. Australian Social Work, 1-12.‏

Bachner, Y. G., Guldin, M. B., & Nielsen, M. K. (2021). Mortality communication and post-bereavement depression among Danish family caregivers of terminal cancer patients. Supportive Care in Cancer, 29(4), 1951-1958.‏

Vadim Fraifeld:

Samaha, E., Vierlinger, K., Weinhappel, W., Godnic-Cvar, J., Nöhammer, C., Koczan, D., Thiesen, H. J., Yanai, H., Fraifeld, V. E., Ziesche, R. (2021). Expression profiling suggests loss of surface integrity and failure of regenerative repair as major driving forces for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease progression. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, 64(4), 441-452. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2020-0270OC

Kulaga, A. Y., Ursu, E., Toren, D., Tyshchenko, V., Guinea, R., Pushkova, M., Fraifeld, V. E., Tacutu, R. (2021). Machine learning analysis of longevity-associated gene expression landscapes in mammals. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(3), 1073. doi: 10.3390/ijms22031073
David, E., Wolfson, M., Fraifeld, V. E. (2021). Background radiation impacts human longevity and cancer mortality: reconsidering the linear no-threshold paradigm. Biogerontology, 22(2), 189-195. doi: 10.1007/s10522-020-09909-4

Yan Press:

Kolushev, I., Punchik, B., Digmi, D., Haiman, K., Ritsner, M., Moller, O., … & Press, Y. (2021). Ageism, aging, anxiety, and death and dying anxiety among doctors and nurses in southern Israel. Rejuvenation Research.‏

Punchik, B., Tkacheva, O., Runikhina, N., Sharashkina, N., Ostapenko, V., Samson, T., … & Press, Y. (2021). Ageism among physicians and nurses in Russia. Rejuvenation Research.‏

Itshak Melzer:

Nachmani, H., Paran, I., Salti, M., Shelef, I., & Melzer, I. (2021). Examining Different Motor Learning Paradigms for Improving Balance Recovery Abilities Among Older Adults, Random versus Block training–study protocol of a Randomized Non-Inferiority Controlled Trial. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 15, 37.‏

Batcir, S., Lubovsky, O., Bachner, Y. G., & Melzer, I. (2021). The effects of bicycle simulator training on anticipatory and compensatory postural control in older adults: study protocol for a single-blind randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in neurology, 11, 1869.‏

Handelzalts, S., Chen-Steinberg, F., Soroker, N., Shani, G., & Melzer, I. (2021). Characteristics of upper-extremity reactions to sudden lateral loss of balance in persons with stroke. Clinical biomechanics, 82, 105255.‏
Batcir, S., Livne, Y., Lehman, R. L., Edelman, S., Schiller, L., Lubovsky, O., … & Melzer, I. (2021). Development and piloting of a perturbation stationary bicycle robotic system that provides unexpected lateral perturbations during bicycling (the PerStBiRo system). BMC geriatrics, 21(1), 1-15.‏