ARK - International PhD Summer School at Karolinska Institute

Brain aging – Karolinska summer school 

This doctoral summer school was organized during August 14-25, 2017 in Stockholm as a collaborative effort with the Keio University, Beijing University Health Science Center, King’s College London and Karolinska Institutet. The summer school director was Professor Masato Yasui from Keio University. The course is part of a very successful series of collaborative summer schools.

ARK Committee selected PhD students to attend the summer school based on their CV, a brief description of their PhD project and primary supervisor's letter of support.

The purpose of the summer school for doctoral students is to increase the understanding of brain aging and its cellular and molecular mechanisms, including tools and technologies applied. Upon completion of the course, the doctoral students can describe important concepts in the cellular and molecular mechanisms relating to brain aging, describe differences between normal and pathological brain aging, and critically evaluate important methods and technologies applied in brain aging research.

The main contents of the course cover physiological and pathological brain aging and their cellular and molecular mechanisms; from basic neuroscience to clinical diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases and Alzheimer disease. Differences between normal and pathological brain aging are covered, as well transition from normal to pathological brain aging and risk factors for pathological brain aging. Even methods and technologies used in the study of brain aging are discussed and critically evaluated.

The course is organized as a summer school, which encompasses lectures with faculty from the participating universities, small group discussions, student presentations, a one day thematic scientific symposium organized at Nobel Forum during the first week of the summer school. During the second week, the summer school will take part in a scientific conference (Nordic summit for PhD studies August 21-22), a one day publishing course with the chief editor of the Embo Journal (August 23), and finally two day site visits to research laboratories at Karolinska Institutet.

The one day “Brain aging” symposium at Nobel Forum is part of the course and also an open symposium for any interested research personnel. The two day conference “Nordic Summit for PhD studies in Health Sciences” brings together faculty, administrators and doctoral students from 14 the medical faculties of participating universities in the 

Biology of Ageing II Conference 'Impactful Interventions' 

Organised by A*Star and National University of Singapore in association with ARK

When: 14th - 16th November 2017

Where: Grand Cophorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore

ARK and the KCL graduate School sponsored travel prizes of £500 each to early career investigator, postdoctoral researchers, PhD and MSc students to attend. 

During the conference research experts and leaders in the field discussed various biological aspects of ageing and especially interventions as well as related mechanisms to sustain and/or restore functional capacity in older adults. The interventions discussed included nutritional supplements, caloric intake regulation, exercise, drugs, and others, in both human and animal models. The muscolo-skeletal, immune, metabolic and cognitive aspects of ageing were among the topics covered. Scientists, clinicians and groups interested in restoring functional capacity and understanding the biology behind the effectiveness of these interventions attended this scientific conference.

Read the King's news story about the event here

Speaker: Professor Eileen Crimmins, PhD, University of Southern California AARP Professor of Gerontology, University Professor, Director, Multidisciplinary Research Training in Gerontology PhD Program

When: 17.00, Wednesday 6 March 2019

Where: Bush House Lecture Theatre 1 BH(S) 1.01, The Strand Campus, King’s College London

More information about this lecture can be found here

Speaker: Dr Shai Shen-Orr, Associate Professor, Head, Laboratory of Systems Immunology & Precision Medicine, Faculty of Medicine

Where: Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Hodgkin Building, Guy's Campus
When: 13.00 - 14.00, Thursday 13 June

BBC news: Middle-age can reverse heart risk with exercise, study suggests

Dr Richard Siow, Vice-Dean for the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine at King's College London and Director of Ageing Research at King's, told the BBC the study was valuable in that shows we can delay cardiovascular ageing.

He said it provided further evidence that "we can, in a way, rejuvenate or make the cells in the heart, and also in the blood vessels for that matter, resemble younger cells through an exercise programme".

"I think that's a very important take-home message for those of us who may have a doom and gloom view there's nothing we can do about it. Yes there is, we can start by getting off the couch to have a more active lifestyle."

Read full story here

Academics explore biological interventions for ageing populations

King’s College London’s Ageing Research at King's (ARK) initiative has collaborated with the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the National University Health System (NUHS) to host Biology of Ageing: Impactful Interventions.

The conference, which took place in Singapore between 14-16 November 2017, brought together high profile academics from a range of top universities and organisations around the world to explore the possibilities of, and opportunities to, age healthily, reduce the effects of ageing and prevent onset of age related diseases. Themed around ‘impactful interventions’, the conference aimed to better understand the mechanisms of ageing and develop therapeutic interventions to extend human health-span in a practical and efficient way. 

King’s academics Dr Richard Siow, Vice Dean (International) of the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine and Committee Chair of ARK, and Professor Catherine Shanahan, School of Cardiovascular Medicine and Sciences, participated in the conference, along with ten PhD students and two post-doctoral researchers from King’s. Dr Siow, said: “The conference highlighted the latest findings by researchers in the ageing field from King’s, and other institutions in USA, Europe, Asia and Australia, to emphasise the importance of tackling and preventing age-related diseases, healthy ageing and the possibility of rejuvenation. The partnership between ARK with A*STAR and NUS has bought together international leaders in the field to develop a research network that addresses the mechanisms of ageing and longevity, and the challenges of ageing societies".

”Professor Barry Halliwell, Chairman of the Biomedical Research Council, A*STAR, and Senior Advisor to the President at NUS, said: "The conference was a great success and I am very grateful to King's for partnering with NUS and A*STAR to help make it so". Research themes covered in the conference ranged from neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease and exercise in the elderly through to development of fasting mimicking diets as an example of an efficient intervention for extending health span. Future annual conferences on ageing with the network of ARK international partners are being organised.