Biogerontology, including Systems Biology & Biomarkers
Our work aims to develop further understanding of the essential networks of stress responses and signalling processes that govern ageing at the molecular and cellular scale, aided by a combination of experimentation and mathematical modelling.
Present research focuses on:
- Regulation of cell senescence
- Mitochondrial biology
- Genomic stability
- Evolutionary Biology
Interactions between these four have great relevance for ageing in mammalians including humans. We are looking for interventions aimed at slowing down the ageing process and at identifying better candidates for markers of biological age, which will be evaluated and tested for their predictive power in population-based, pre-clinical and clinical human studies.
Our staff are involved in the Newcastle 85+ Study, a major study of health and ageing in the oldest old population (those aged 85 years and older) which, since 2006, has recruited a birth cohort of more than one thousand 85 year olds from Newcastle and North Tyneside.
Research in this area is conducted in close collaboration with the Centre for Integrated Systems Biology in Ageing and Nutrition (CISBAN) , the Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Ageing and Chronic Disease, the Newcastle Centre for Brain Ageing and Vitality and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research.
Selected Projects
- Does mitochondrial telomerase protect the brain against ageing and age-related neurodegenerative diseases?
Project Leader(s): Dr. Gabriele Saretzki - Is telomerase involved in stem cell ageing?
Project Leader(s): Dr. Gabriele Saretzki - Studies of cellular processes involved in the control of nutrient signalling and their relevance to ageing
Project Leader(s): Viktor Korolochuk
