42 U.S.C. § 285e–3 — Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers

(a) Development and expansion of centers: The Institute's Director must enter into cooperative agreements with, and give grants to, public and private nonprofit groups to develop or expand at least 10 centers of excellence in geriatric research and researcher training. Each is called a Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. (b) Functions of centers: Each center must: (1) use a single institution's facilities, or a qualifying consortium, meeting the Director's research and training standards; and (2) conduct (A) research into the aging process and into diagnosing and treating aging-related diseases, disorders, and complications — including menopause — including research on treatments, medical devices, and other interventions that help people avoid being institutionalized or hospitalized for long periods, and stay more independent; and (B) programs that train people to do this kind of research. (c) Geographic distribution of centers: When making agreements and grants under this section, the Director must, as much as practical, make sure centers are spread fairly across the main geographic regions of the United States. (d) "Independence" defined: For this section, "independence" — for aging-related diseases, disorders, and complications — means a person's functional ability to do daily living activities or instrumental daily living activities without help or supervision.