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The Mortal Immortal - Scientific and Social Aspects of Ageing
Event Summary
The Mortal Immortal - Scientific and Social Aspects of Ageing
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IntroductionWith the birth of modern medicine and improved hygiene, the 20th century saw the average worldwide life expectancy nearly double, from 30 to 60 years of age -- a dramatic increase that has impacted the world in many ways. Looking forwards, will the 21st century yield similar--or even greater--extensions to human life? While biomedical research has successfully explained and cured many complex diseases, we still know little about the underlying biological mechanisms that cause ageing. Recent technologies promise to provide a wealth of new relevant data, but will this necessarily lead to increased knowledge? Regardless, scientists, policymakers, and citizens will need to consider how society might use this knowledge, if and when it arrives. With the world already straining from overpopulation and great disparities in health and longevity between the rich and poor, how (and why) do we expect ageing research to proceed into the future? Those and other issues will be addressed in a series of four talks by renowned speakers followed by a panel discussion at this year's EMBL-EBI Science and Society symposium in Cambridge on 8 May: 'The Mortal Immortal: Scientific and Social Aspects of Ageing' Chair and OrganisersThis conference is hosted by the EBI as a part of the EMBL-EBI Science and Society programme . Symposium chair
Organising Committee
ContactProgrammeThe programme will include 4 individual talks by invited speakers and a 1 hour open discussion period with all speakers.
Live StreamThe talks as well as the panel discussion will be broadcast here live from the event. Felicia Huppert
Felicia's principal research interest is well-being across the life course. Her work is unusual in that it brings together traditional approaches from cognitive psychology and neuropsychology with a population perspective derived from epidemiology. Working with outstanding colleagues in cognate disciplines (biomedical science, genetics, psychometrics, social science, economics and engineering) she has been able to integrate her work on both well-being and positive ageing with an understanding of underlying physiological mechanisms, gene-environment interactions, and the role of the social context. Felicia is involved in major population studies including the NIA-funded English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). She is also PI on a project to investigate the life-course antecedents of mid-life flourishing, which involves analysing data from of the longest-running British birth cohort study - a representative sample of those born in 1946 (http://www.nshd.mrc.ac.uk/). Prof. Felicia Huppert, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge David Gems
Dr. David Gems, Institute of Healthy Ageing, University College London Talk abstract:The new biology of ageing: What are its goals?Until recently the biology of ageing, like that of consciousness, seemed an unassailable topic. Ageing was to biologists an intractable labyrinth of diverse deteriorative processes within which primary causes were impossible to locate. But around 15 years ago, discoveries in the genetics of ageing initiated a startling forward march in biogerontology (the study of the biology of ageing). In particular, studies of long-lived mutants in simple organisms, including a tiny nematode worm with a long name (Caenorhabditis elegans), have lead to the discovery of genes and biochemical pathways that control the pace of the ageing process. Recent discoveries imply that some of these ageing-control mechanisms are operative in higher animals, perhaps including human beings. Given the present rapid rate of progress in studies of ageing, the prospects are that we may quite soon attain, at long last, a real understanding of the biology of this determinant of the human condition. How easily such a knowledge will translate into treatments for human ageing is unclear. However, in animal models, scientists have not only achieved striking increases in lifespan but also a postponement of the infirmity and illness associated with ageing. This last finding is of critical importance, since it demonstrates that biological ageing is an effective point of intervention for prophylaxis against ageing-related diseases. In humans, these include the major mortal illnesses of the developed world: cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and cancer. While these advances are exciting, it is sometimes said that one should be cautious of achieving one's innermost desires. Since the dawn of culture, we have sought cures for ageing; but would their discovery be a good thing? Given the benefits of treating ageing in terms of protection against disease and of alleviating human suffering, this, surely, is something that we must pursue. However, current studies suggest that treating ageing may reduce incidence of age-related diseases at any given age, but not overall, lifetime incidence. Such findings direct us to a question of growing importance: What should the goals of biogerontology be? John Harris
On March 30th 2004 John Harris was appointed as the new joint Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Medical Ethics the highest impact journal in medical and applied ethics. John Harris was elected a Fellow of the United Kingdom Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2001, the first philosopher to have been elected to Fellowship of this new National Academy which was established to serve “the medical sciences in the same way as the Royal Society serves the natural sciences (and) the British Academy serves the humanities”. He has been a member of The United Kingdom Human Genetics Commission since its foundation in 1999 and formerly served on the United Kingdom Government Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing from its foundation in 1996 until its closure. He is also a member of the Ethics Committee of the British Medical Association. He was one of the Founder Directors of the International Association of Bioethics and is a founder member of the Board of the Journal Bioethics and Associate Editor (Genetics) of the Journal of Medical Ethics , and a member of the Editorial Board of the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics and many other journals. John Harris is the author or editor of fifteen books and over two hundred papers. He has published in most of the leading philosophical journals in his field including, The Journal of Medical Ethics , Bioethics , The Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , The Hastings Centre Report and Philosophy & Public Affairs . He has also published in many of the leading science journals including Nature , Nature Reviews Genetics , Science, Annals of the New York Academy of Science and The British Medical Journal . He currently holds research grants from the European Commission valued at around 1.5 million Euros. John Harris is Research Director in a new research centre, the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation, which will be based in the School of Law. Sir John Sulston will chair the institute which will focus on the ethical questions raised by science and technology in the 21st century. Prof. John Harris, Department of Law, University of Manchester Tom Kirkwood
Prof. Tom Kirkwood, Institute for Ageing and Health, University of Newcastle Richard Smith
His research has moved in more recent years to the interface between historical demography and the social history of medicine. He has worked on the history of ageing, particularly on the social and economic position of the elderly comparatively in European and non-European societies. His research has been concerned in part with the structure of wealth flows within the family to and from the elderly as well as the significance of support systems for the elderly that are based on non-familial exchanges within communities. In recent years he has worked extensively on the position of the elderly under medieval customary law and the English Old Poor Law. Theoretical issues that flow from this work concern the value of children in social systems where wealth flows within the family do not move from young to old. He has recently completed a monograph on the historical demography of Medieval England and is working collaboratively with Jim Oeppen and Ros Davies on research projects that attempt to measure the impact of life course shocks on adult longevity, with particular in testing the 'Barker thesis concerning the impact of in utero conditions on life expectation. Another project concerns the patterns of inherited fertility and mortality. Both projects make use of family reconstitutions and genealogies relating to British, French and German populations c. 1600-1900. The English research on these projects also involves the linking of poor law data with demographic data on individuals in family reconstitutions. The work is being funded by grants from Leverhulme Trust and the Wellcome Trust. He has recently completed a collaborative project assessing the impact of the English Poor Law on economic growth c. 1700-1840 in which comparisons are made with the economic impact of community-level welfare programmes in South Africa and Kerala. He has begun new research (funded by ESRC) on the links between cereal output as measured by tithe payments and demographic trends in England from c. 1300 and 1530. Prof. Richard Smith, Geography Department, University of Cambridge Talk abstract:Lengthening lives and the changing roles of kin and community in care for the elderly through timeTBA. RegistrationRegistration is free and open to all. You may also register on site on the day of the symposium. >> Register OnlineLocationThe symposium will take place in Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. It is located on Huntingdon Road, within walking distance (about 20 min) from the city centre. There is also a regular bus service. Maps and directions can be found here. Accommodation &TravelPlease organise your own accommodation and travelA comprehensive range of accommodation in central Cambridge can be found at smoothhound. Inexpensive flights are available to London Stansted Airport from many locations in Europe. From Cambridge Station you can get direct trains to London Liverpool Street, London King's Cross and Stansted Airport. For train timetables please see the National Rail website. ContactIf you have any enquiries regarding the conference please send an e-mail to ageing_research@ebi.ac.uk |
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