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EXC 229:  Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases

Subject Area Medicine
Term from 2007 to 2018
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 39010820
 
Final Report Year 2020

Final Report Abstract

Modern societies are facing a dramatic demographic change with an ever-increasing life expectancy that is concomitant with increased risk of age-associated diseases, e.g. diabetes and obesity, as well as skin, kidney, and neurodegenerative disorders, thus posing an enormous challenge for both individuals and their societies. The landmark discovery that modification of specific signaling pathways can extend lifespan and reduce the incidence of age-associated diseases formed the scientific foundation of the Cologne Cluster of Excellence on Cellular Stress Responses in Agingassociated Diseases (CECAD) – to define the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the aging process as potential novel targets for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of ageassociated diseases. CECAD has actively recruited top basic researchers and clinician scientists who work in concert at the University of Cologne (UoC), the Max Planck Institutes for Biology of Ageing (MPI AGE) and for Metabolism Research (MPI MR), as well as the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). Further, CECAD together with the UoC has effected massive infrastructural changes, which have firmly established this Cluster as one of the leading aging research centers worldwide. Moreover, CECAD’s strategic recruitment policy has generated an international and inclusive research environment where female representation is high. In parallel, we have built up educational measures to better train the best global scientific talent at all academic levels. Together, these developments led to a very rapid increase in research momentum, that thereby enabled CECAD scientists through highly collaborative efforts in unravelling novel fundamental principles underlying aging and aging-associated diseases and identifying potential novel targets for intervention. While work initially focused on defining the role of cell autonomous quality control pathways in aging and aging-aging associated diseases, recent studies from the second period have highlighted the importance of interorgan communication and signals originating from the environment that control longevity and health, thereby opening up a new channel for identifying novel therapeutic targets. For the future CECAD will therefore expand its research program and supporting core structures and educational programs in these areas while at the same time enhancing its translational studies through inclusion of unique human cohorts. Collectively, these efforts of CECAD PIs and its participating institutions will not only enable CECAD to continue to be at the forefront of world-class aging research, but also provide a leading training site for aging researchers at all academic levels.

Link to the final report

https://dx.doi.org/10.2314/GBV:1697037887

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