Metabolomic and omic assessment of biological ageing across the life-course (METAGE)
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: School of Public Health
Abstract
Both genetic and environmental factors affect the ageing process, leading to differences in ageing rates. Therefore, a person's "biological age", or overall physiological state, may differ from what is expected given their actual (chronological) age. Differences in biological aging rates mean some people die earlier and have more health problems in later life.
We aim to develop blood-based measures of biological age that provides improved prediction, over chronological age itself, of ill health and premature mortality in adults and developmental outcomes in children.
We will existing metabolomics (whole sets of small molecules) and other 'omics' (whole sets of molecules related to gene control and function) data from multiple population based cohort studies in the UK, Europe and the USA. We will develop blood tests of biological age composed of measurements of multiple molecules using advanced statistics. Three approaches will be pursued:
i) Using targeted metabolomics on over 200 molecules in approximately 35,000 people (aged 7-99 years);
ii) Using untargeted metabolomics on several thousand molecules in approximately 7,000 people (aged 20-95 years). Predictive metabolites will be identified, and the new blood test will tested with newly measured data in an independent population;
iii) Using metabolomic and omics data in 1,200 children (aged 6-11 years) to develop blood tests of biological development.
We will then assess whether 'age acceleration', the difference between predicted age (from metabolomic and omic age blood tests) and chronological age, is predictive of cardiovascular disease and premature death in adults and associated with height, weight, and mental development in children. We will identify the key environmental and genetic causes of age acceleration and the biological pathways underlying the ageing process.
We aim to develop blood-based measures of biological age that provides improved prediction, over chronological age itself, of ill health and premature mortality in adults and developmental outcomes in children.
We will existing metabolomics (whole sets of small molecules) and other 'omics' (whole sets of molecules related to gene control and function) data from multiple population based cohort studies in the UK, Europe and the USA. We will develop blood tests of biological age composed of measurements of multiple molecules using advanced statistics. Three approaches will be pursued:
i) Using targeted metabolomics on over 200 molecules in approximately 35,000 people (aged 7-99 years);
ii) Using untargeted metabolomics on several thousand molecules in approximately 7,000 people (aged 20-95 years). Predictive metabolites will be identified, and the new blood test will tested with newly measured data in an independent population;
iii) Using metabolomic and omics data in 1,200 children (aged 6-11 years) to develop blood tests of biological development.
We will then assess whether 'age acceleration', the difference between predicted age (from metabolomic and omic age blood tests) and chronological age, is predictive of cardiovascular disease and premature death in adults and associated with height, weight, and mental development in children. We will identify the key environmental and genetic causes of age acceleration and the biological pathways underlying the ageing process.
Planned Impact
The development of affordable biomarkers of biological age, improved knowledge of the biological of ageing in humans, and identification of risk factors of faster biological ageing rate may impact the following beneficiaries:
-Industry, including pharmaceutical companies
-Policy makers
-Public health campaigners
-Doctors
-Carers
-The general public
They may benefit in the following ways:
Pharmaceutical companies benefit from stratified selection of patients into drug trials, greatly reducing the number of patients needed to treat to observe an effect - and greatly reducing the costs of trials. Improved knowledge of the biology of ageing may identify the processes and sites most amenable to therapeutic targeting, potentially leading to new drugs to reduce the risk of age-associated morbidity. Other commercial areas include the burgeoning personal health field, where by customers often use apps to track their health and may pay a subscription for advanced services such as in-depth medical tests. These new development will contribute to the economic competitiveness of
the UK
Policy makers will benefit from a stronger evidence base regarding key determinants of faster biological ageing, allowing the development of evidence-based policy to improve healthy ageing for all sectors of society. Similarly, public health campaigns and messaging can target the reduction of risk factors of unhealthy ageing.
In the primary care setting, providing biological age tests to patients may provide a greater impact than current clinical tests and provide greater motivation to follow healthier life habits. in clinical practice, an affordable clinical test may be used to identify individuals most at risk of co-morbidities, potentially within early life where interventions may be most effective.
Ultimately, the general public will benefit from all these actions to improve ageing outcomes. With increasing lifespans and later retirement ages, increasing health and well-being in later life is one of the greatest challenges we face today. This will lessen the burden on carers and health services and extend productive lives, providing an overall benefit to the global economic performance
-Industry, including pharmaceutical companies
-Policy makers
-Public health campaigners
-Doctors
-Carers
-The general public
They may benefit in the following ways:
Pharmaceutical companies benefit from stratified selection of patients into drug trials, greatly reducing the number of patients needed to treat to observe an effect - and greatly reducing the costs of trials. Improved knowledge of the biology of ageing may identify the processes and sites most amenable to therapeutic targeting, potentially leading to new drugs to reduce the risk of age-associated morbidity. Other commercial areas include the burgeoning personal health field, where by customers often use apps to track their health and may pay a subscription for advanced services such as in-depth medical tests. These new development will contribute to the economic competitiveness of
the UK
Policy makers will benefit from a stronger evidence base regarding key determinants of faster biological ageing, allowing the development of evidence-based policy to improve healthy ageing for all sectors of society. Similarly, public health campaigns and messaging can target the reduction of risk factors of unhealthy ageing.
In the primary care setting, providing biological age tests to patients may provide a greater impact than current clinical tests and provide greater motivation to follow healthier life habits. in clinical practice, an affordable clinical test may be used to identify individuals most at risk of co-morbidities, potentially within early life where interventions may be most effective.
Ultimately, the general public will benefit from all these actions to improve ageing outcomes. With increasing lifespans and later retirement ages, increasing health and well-being in later life is one of the greatest challenges we face today. This will lessen the burden on carers and health services and extend productive lives, providing an overall benefit to the global economic performance
Organisations
- Imperial College London (Lead Research Organisation)
- Masaryk University (Collaboration)
- University of Porto (Collaboration)
- World Health Organization (WHO) (Collaboration)
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University Medical Center Rotterdam (Collaboration)
- National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- University of Turku (Collaboration)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- Utrecht University (Collaboration)
- University of Leicester (Collaboration)
- Trinity College Dublin (Collaboration)
- National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS) (Collaboration)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Collaboration)
- National Institute for Health and Welfare (Collaboration)
- Janssen Research & Development (Collaboration)
- Örebro University (Collaboration)
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) (Collaboration)
- University of Oulu (Collaboration)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Collaboration)
- Helmholtz Zentrum München (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
- Hospital of the Uni of Health and Scienc (Project Partner)
Publications
Vineis P
(2020)
Special Report: The Biology of Inequalities in Health: The Lifepath Consortium
in Frontiers in Public Health
Vives-Usano M
(2020)
In utero and childhood exposure to tobacco smoke and multi-layer molecular signatures in children.
in BMC medicine
Alfano R
(2020)
A multi-omic analysis of birthweight in newborn cord blood reveals new underlying mechanisms related to cholesterol metabolism.
in Metabolism: clinical and experimental
Vineis P
(2020)
What is new in the exposome?
in Environment international
Robinson O
(2020)
Measuring biological age using metabolomics.
in Aging
Robinson O
(2020)
Determinants of accelerated metabolomic and epigenetic aging in a UK cohort.
in Aging cell
Demetriou C
(2020)
The exposome and meet-in-the-middle as tools in addressing open questions in air pollution research
in European Journal of Public Health
De Prado-Bert P
(2021)
The early-life exposome and epigenetic age acceleration in children.
in Environment international
Robinson O
(2021)
Metabolic profiles of socio-economic position: a multi-cohort analysis.
in International journal of epidemiology
Handakas E
(2021)
Cord blood metabolic signatures predictive of childhood overweight and rapid growth
in International Journal of Obesity
Maitre L
(2021)
Early-life environmental exposure determinants of child behavior in Europe: A longitudinal, population-based study.
in Environment international
Julvez J
(2021)
Early life multiple exposures and child cognitive function: A multi-centric birth cohort study in six European countries.
in Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
McCartney DL
(2021)
Genome-wide association studies identify 137 genetic loci for DNA methylation biomarkers of aging.
in Genome biology
Lau CE
(2021)
DNA methylation age as a biomarker for cancer.
in International journal of cancer
Handakas E
(2022)
A systematic review of metabolomic studies of childhood obesity: State of the evidence for metabolic determinants and consequences.
in Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity
Keski-Rahkonen P
(2022)
Commentary: Data Processing Thresholds for Abundance and Sparsity and Missed Biological Insights in an Untargeted Chemical Analysis of Blood Specimens for Exposomics
in Frontiers in Public Health
Alfano R
(2022)
Perspectives and challenges of epigenetic determinants of childhood obesity: A systematic review.
in Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity
Maitre L
(2022)
Multi-omics signatures of the human early life exposome.
in Nature communications
Cappozzo A
(2022)
A blood DNA methylation biomarker for predicting short-term risk of cardiovascular events.
in Clinical epigenetics
Stratakis N
(2022)
Urinary metabolic biomarkers of diet quality in European children are associated with metabolic health.
in eLife
Wielscher M
(2022)
DNA methylation signature of chronic low-grade inflammation and its role in cardio-respiratory diseases.
in Nature communications
Freni-Sterrantino A
(2022)
Association between work characteristics and epigenetic age acceleration: cross-sectional results from UK - Understanding Society study.
in Aging
Alfano R
(2022)
Cord blood metabolites and rapid postnatal growth as multiple mediators in the prenatal propensity to childhood overweight.
in International journal of obesity (2005)
Freni-Sterrantino A
(2022)
Work-related stress and well-being in association with epigenetic age acceleration: A Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 Study.
in Aging
Handakas E
(2022)
Metabolic Profiles of Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Their Role in Obesity Risk in British Children
in SSRN Electronic Journal
Ribeiro AI
(2022)
Association of neighbourhood disadvantage and individual socioeconomic position with all-cause mortality: a longitudinal multicohort analysis.
in The Lancet. Public health
Handakas E
(2022)
Metabolic profiles of ultra-processed food consumption and their role in obesity risk in British children.
in Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Handakas E
(2022)
Molecular mediators of the association between child obesity and mental health
in Frontiers in Genetics
Robinson O
(2023)
How do metabolic processes age: Evidence from human metabolomic studies
in Current Opinion in Chemical Biology
Handakas E
(2023)
The exposome approach to study children's health
in Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health
O'Neill KN
(2023)
Childhood socioeconomic position and sex-specific trajectories of metabolic traits across early life: prospective cohort study.
in EBioMedicine
Vineis P
(2023)
The contribution to policies of an exposome-based approach to childhood obesity.
in Exposome
Bowman K
(2023)
Mediators of the association between childhood body mass index and educational attainment: Analysis of a UK prospective cohort study.
in Pediatric obesity
Alfano R
(2023)
Cord blood epigenome-wide meta-analysis in six European-based child cohorts identifies signatures linked to rapid weight growth
in BMC Medicine
Korologou-Linden R
(2024)
Novel Blood-Based Biomarkers and Disease Modifying Therapies for Alzheimer's Disease. Are We Ready for the New Era?
in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease
Lau CE
(2024)
NMR metabolomic modeling of age and lifespan: A multicohort analysis.
in Aging cell
DomÃnguez-Barragán J
(2024)
Blood DNA methylation signature of diet quality and association with cardiometabolic traits.
in European journal of preventive cardiology
Guimbaud JB
(2024)
Machine learning-based health environmental-clinical risk scores in European children.
in Communications medicine
Ambroa-Conde A
(2024)
Inference of tobacco and alcohol consumption habits from DNA methylation analysis of blood
in Forensic Science International: Genetics
Korologou-Linden R
(2025)
Preparing the way for novel blood-based biomarkers and disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease in the NHS in the UK.
in Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
Robinson, O.
(2025)
A Life Course Approach to the Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases and Ageing
Llauradó-Pont J
(2025)
A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies of ultra-processed food consumption with DNA methylation in European children.
in Clinical epigenetics
Fabbri L
(2025)
Childhood exposure to non-persistent endocrine disruptors, glucocorticosteroids, and attentional function: A cross-sectional study based on the parametric g-formula
in Environmental Research
| Description | In the workstream using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) based metabolomics in blood samples, we have assembled data from 38,000 people from 14 cohort studies covering ages 20-90 years. We have investigated various multivariate modeling strategies to test whether chronological can be predicted using this data, giving a correlation range of 0.5 -0.8 depending on model used. We then defined "age acceleration (AA)" as the difference between chronological and predicted age. We found that for some models, AA was with associated with mortality and cardiovascular disease, suggesting that this approach does capture biological ageing processes. Furthermore this metabolomic AA score was robustly, associated with biomarkers of biological aging within the inflammatory, lung, kidney and circulatory systems. We found risk of age acceleration to include obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity and low education level. We found that certain metabolites including docosahexaenoic acid, citrate, creatinine, albumin and histidine had clear relationships with age over the lifespan. However for metabolites such as docosahexaenoic acid which increases with age, appeared to also be associated with longer lifespan. We have validated these models in the independent UK Biobank, finding that metabolomic age models could predict mortality and various age-related diseases (CVD, T2D, cancer, dementia, COPD). Within the workstream using untargeted liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry (LC-MS), which provide much greater coverage than NMR metabolomics, we have harmonizing a database of existing untargeted LC-MS datasets - including six cohorts for around 8,000 people. Through ongoing annotation work with partners at the National Phenome Centre, we now have around 500 metabolites which we are currently using for age modelling work. We have initiated a partnership with the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing and have now acquired LC-MS metabolomic data (across four platforms) for 1,900 samples from people aged over 50 years from across Ireland, including 500 repeat samples, to validate these models and test associations with physical markers of aging such as frailty. In the workstream in children we have found that AA derived from telomere length, epigenetic, protein, metabolite and gene expression data models of age are associated with developmental outcomes such as height, fat mass, onset of puberty, and behaviour. Patterns of associations differed between clocks. for instance that accelerated "immunometabolic age" appeared to represent build-up of biological capital while accelerated DNA methylation age and telomere attrition may represent a "wear and tear" model of biological ageing in children. |
| Exploitation Route | This information and the biological age models can be used by other researchers exploring biological aging in human studies |
| Sectors | Healthcare |
| Description | AD-Riddle |
| Amount | £644,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 01/2028 |
| Description | Chariot Pro Longitudinal Study |
| Amount | £4,220,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 03/2024 |
| End | 07/2027 |
| Description | Employing the population-based Janus Serum Bank as 'Time Machine', to explore kidney and testicular cancer and their relationship with exposure to PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' |
| Amount | kr 5,000,000 (NOK) |
| Organisation | The Norwegian Cancer Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Norway |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 01/2028 |
| Description | NIHR Applied Research Collaborations Dementia Capacity Building |
| Amount | £412,023 (GBP) |
| Organisation | National Institute for Health and Care Research |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2023 |
| End | 04/2025 |
| Description | Understanding how endocrine disruptors and chemical mixtures of concern target the immune system to trigger or perpetuate disease (ENDOMIX) |
| Amount | £390,274 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 10106479 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 01/2028 |
| Title | Additional file 2 of A blood DNA methylation biomarker for predicting short-term risk of cardiovascular events |
| Description | Additional file 2. Supplementary Tables S1, S2, and S3. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | DNAm biomarker model that may be applied across DNAm microarrays |
| URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Additional_file_2_of_A_blood_DNA_methylation_bi... |
| Title | DNAm metabolomic age assessment |
| Description | Model applicable to DNA methylation microarray data |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2025 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Published here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acel.14484?msockid=0b746f4c54426ef414ee7a5e55896f2b Other researchers are already using this |
| URL | https://github.com/Kexin-xu-01/DNAm-metabolic-age/ |
| Title | Database of corticosteroids in urine and hair in the HELIX cohort during childhood |
| Description | Database of corticosteroids in approximately 1000 urine samples and 200 hair samples in the HELIX cohort during childhood , aged 5-12 years. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The dataset is supporting several analyses including the effect of stress of biological ageing in children and the impact of environmental exposures on stress. |
| Title | NMR based Metabolic age model |
| Description | A set of algorithms to be applied to Nightingale plasma/serum NMR data to assess the metabolic age of individuals. We find these metabolic age scores to improve prediction of mortality and age-related morbidity over chronological age. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The publication describing these models are currently under review. Upon publication these models will be made freely available at URL below |
| URL | https://github.com/chungholau/NMR-metabolomic-age |
| Title | UPLC-MS data for 1,900 plasma samples collected from the The Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing |
| Description | Mass-spectrometry based metabolomic data (using four different assay platforms) from 1400 samples with 500 repeats collected from The Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | So far the dataset has been used to develop a metabolomic ageing model and to metabolic associations with cognitive change |
| Description | AIRWAVE study |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data provided by AIRWAVE cohort. We are re-processing and performing additional annotation experiments to enrich the existing metabolomic database |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data collected in the AIRWAVE cohort. Intellectual contribution to research design and interpretation. |
| Impact | Untargeted metabolomics study database doi: 10.1111/acel.13149 |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | ALSPAC cohort study |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Department | Bristol Research Unit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data from the ALSPAC birth coohort |
| Impact | Child study database Targeted metabolomics database doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaa188 |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | FINGER |
| Organisation | National Institute for Health and Welfare |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We will analyze the metabolomic data generated from the FINGER trial to develop age models and test whether intervention slows biological aging |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have provided metabolomic and covariate data from the FINGER trial |
| Impact | none to report yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | GRAPHIC study |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We will analyze metabolomic and covariate data from The Genetic Regulation of Arterial Pressure of Humans In the Community (GRAPHIC) Study |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provide metabolomic data and covariates |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Generation 21 Study |
| Organisation | University of Porto |
| Department | University of Porto Medical School |
| Country | Portugal |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data collected in the Generation 21 Birth Cohort |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data collected in the Generation 21 Birth Cohort and intellectual contribution to research design and interpretation |
| Impact | Child study database |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Global Neurodegeneration Proteomics Consortium (GNPC) |
| Organisation | Janssen Research & Development |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Data from Chariot Pro study. Members of steering and analysis comittees |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of proteomics analysis. Consortium infrastructure for data sharing |
| Impact | No outputs yet -Further cohorts being invited to join consortium |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Global Neurodegeneration Proteomics Consortium (GNPC) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data from Chariot Pro study. Members of steering and analysis comittees |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of proteomics analysis. Consortium infrastructure for data sharing |
| Impact | No outputs yet -Further cohorts being invited to join consortium |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Lolipop Study |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data provided by Lolipop cohort. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data from the Lolipop study. Intellectual contribution |
| Impact | Untargeted metabolomics database |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) |
| Organisation | National Institutes of Health (NIH) |
| Department | National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data provided by MESA cohort. We are re-processing and performing additional annotation experiments to enrich the existing metabolomic database |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data collected in the MESA cohort. Intellectual contribution to research design and interpretation. |
| Impact | Untargeted metabolomics study database |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Northern Finnish Birth Cohort |
| Organisation | University of Oulu |
| Department | Biocenter Oulu |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data collected in the Northern Finnish Birth Cohort |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data collected in the Northern Finnish Birth Cohort and intellectual contribution to research design and interpretation |
| Impact | Targeted metabolomics database doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaa188 |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Rotterdam study |
| Organisation | University Medical Center Rotterdam |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data provided by the Rotterdam study. We are re-processing and performing additional annotation experiments to enrich the existing metabolomic database |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data from the Rotterdam study. Intellectual contribution |
| Impact | Untargeted metabolomics database |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki |
| Country | Greece |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | Barcelona Institute for Global Health |
| Country | Spain |
| Sector | Multiple |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | Helmholtz Zentrum München |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | Masaryk University |
| Country | Czech Republic |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS) |
| Department | Institute of Ecology and Environment |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | Utrecht University |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | World Health Organization (WHO) |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | SPHERA: Single Planet Health and Environment Research Agenda |
| Organisation | Örebro University |
| Country | Sweden |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Objectives of the collaboration: a. To update the initial HERA agenda at regular intervals b. To foster policy implementation by regularly promoting consolidated knowledge. c. To promote the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources related to environment, climate and health research, and identifying new issues d. To promote science-policy interface, by enhancing the dissemination and utilization of research findings in the field of environment, climate and health. e. To establish a European network of researchers and centers focused on environment, climate and health, to facilitate joint initiatives, including but not limited to research projects, conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programs. f. To encourage cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to address environment, climate and health challenges effectively. g. To promote education and training on environment, climate, and health, with a specific emphasis on multidisciplinary research and action areas that are not well covered by existing educational programs |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners have contributed to objectives listed above at regular meetings and preparation of policy briefs |
| Impact | Presentation at high-level conference Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change (19-20 Feb 2023, Bruxelles): https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events/upcoming-events/research-perspectives-health-impacts-climate-change-2024-02-19_en) organized by EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | TILDA |
| Organisation | Trinity College Dublin |
| Department | The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are analyzing 1,700 blood samples provided by the TILDA using four liquid-chromatography mass-spectrometry platforms |
| Collaborator Contribution | They are providing samples and covariate data and intellectual contribution to downstream data analysis |
| Impact | Laboratory analysis underway so not outputs to report yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | UCLEB consortium |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are analysing data accessed through the UCL-LSHTM-Edinburgh-Bristol (UCLEB) Consortium, a network of UK based cohorts, that have provided data through the UCLEB data infrastructure. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The UCLEB consortium is providing access and a security controlled infrastructure to analyse data from six cohorts: The MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), the Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS), the British Women's Heart and Health Study (BWHHS), the Southall and Brent Revisited Study (SABRE), the Whitehall-II study (WHII) and the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening Longitudinal Women's Cohort (UKCTOCS). |
| Impact | Targeted metabolomics database doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaa188 |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Young Finns Study |
| Organisation | University of Turku |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Analysis of data collected in the Young Finns Study |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of data collected in the Young Finns Study and intellectual contribution to research design and interpretation |
| Impact | Targeted metabolomics database doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaa188 |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | "Biological age clocks in children". Athlete Project Epigenetics and Ageing meeting. ISGlobal, Barcelona, 15/12/2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented work on developing multi-omic biological clocks in children, to the European Athlete consortium working group on epigenetics. Contributed to development of other ongoing research in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://athleteproject.eu/ |
| Description | "World Cafe" webinar on epigenetic and metabolomic determinants of childhood obesity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of a webinar series on childhood obesity, I reported recent advances in metabolomic and epigenetic research in to causes of childhood obesity and how this is related to my own work assessing development in children using these molecular markers. The webinar was attended by stakeholders of four European project and and around 200 participants were on the call. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.fhi.no/en/studies/co-create/news2/world-cafe---lets-talk-about-childhood-obesity/ |
| Description | An online presentation open to all and advertised on ICL website, hosted by the Imperial College Bioinformatics Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 80 participants attended the microsoft Teams meeting where I presented an update on the project, as part of a regular series of meetings on Bioinformatics. Many questions were asked including from participants outside Imperial College London |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/events/117239/biomarkers-of-development-and-ageing-across-multiple-popula... |
| Description | Biological age exhibit at Great Exhibition Road Festival 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interactive exhibit on biological ageing: "How old am I really?" in collaboration with a network of FLF researching ageing, to engage, inspire and educate the public on the science and social implications of ageing. It was part of the first ever Adult Zone at the Great Exhibition Road Festival. Almost 2500 people walked through the doors at the Royal Geographical Society building (RGS) over the weekend. The organizers report "The atmosphere at the RGS was lovely and visitors all seemed super engaged in their conversations with you" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk/ |
| Description | Cancer Genomics ONLINE Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The webinar was organised by Front Line Genomics, a media company that is best known for The Festival of Genomics, which takes place annually in London but has also been held in the East and West Coast of the US. During COVID, the festival of Genomics welcomed over 8000 global attendees and was the world's most attended digital genomics event. All of their events and series are free-to-attend as they were founded on the social mission to bring the benefit of omics to patients faster, and therefore we are committed to creating the world's most accessible omics content. I was invited to give a 15-20 mins talk by the organiser, and there were Q&A with the audience, and the webinar was attended by around 100 people online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://app.livestorm.co/front-line-genomics/cancer-genomics-online-webinar-3-cancer-epigenetics-and... |
| Description | Chariot Pro Substudy Participant day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | A day to thank and explain our finding so far to participants of the Chariot Pro Substudy as the Month 54 follow up come to a close. There were many questions, advice and suggestions for future engagement activities. This is particularly important as we are inviting the participants to take part in a new round of follow-ups as part of the Chariot Pro Longitudinal Study |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Conference Presentation of Study Results |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Around 150 postgraduate students, early career researchers or academics attended my 15 minutes presentation talk on "Development and validation of NMR metabolomic models of age and lifespan: A multi-cohort study" at the 19th Annual Conference of the Metabolomics Society held in Canada, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards from researchers based in the US, Canada and Australia on the application of metabolomics on healthy aging. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://az659834.vo.msecnd.net/eventsairsthcusprod/production-metabolomics-public/5d1a17443916452c8e... |
| Description | Exhibition Road Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Regularly host stall at the Great exhibition Festival where my team and myself talked to members of the public and did interactive activities to talk about our work on environmental effects on biological age. The event was very popular with about 500 participants over the course of the weekend |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024,2025 |
| URL | https://www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk/ |
| Description | Imperial Public Community Oversight group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of results of METAGE project to the Imperial Public Community Oversight group - a group comprised of informed general public, to get feedback, particularly for preparation of renewal application |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://environment-health.ac.uk/public-and-community-oversight-group-pcog/ |
| Description | In2Med School hackthon |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This event was organized by a nationwide In2MedSchool aiming to widen applications to Medical school. I gave a presentation and judged the student project where they aimed to design a public health intervention. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.in2medschool.com/ |
| Description | International meeting of the CAD-GWAS project, Imperial College London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of project aims and preliminary results at the international meeting of the CAD-GWAS project, a consortium including cohorts providing data to this project. The event was an opportunity to strengthen collaboration with American partners, and provided very helpful discussion for the project direction. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Invited lecture to Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo to present of project results |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited lecture: "How old am I really? Using "omics" data to assess biological age in cohort studies" . Around 50 researchers attended in person and online which sparked questions and discussion afterwards and intiated plans for future collaboration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Invited speaker on DNA methylation analysis, at Allostatic Load conference, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Around 60 participants attended this lively conference on new approaches to formation and application of Allostatic Load. General public attendees learned more about research in the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/allostatic-load-conference-tickets-746113303977 |
| Description | Led parallel session "The exposome of childhood obesity: from the scientific evidence to public health policy" at the policy symposium " Future directions for nutrition and physical activity policies to prevent NCDs across Europe" 16/06/2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Symposium led to development of policy proposal to combat obesity |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.worldobesity.org/news/policy-symposium-on-ncd-prevention-future-directions-for-nutrition... |
| Description | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine- ICL Joint workshop on Nutrition, Microbiome and Healthy Ageing, (online) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Joint workshop to improve collaboration between Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore and Imperial college London on Nutrition, Microbiome and Healthy Ageing. A lot of interesting studies were presented and areas for further collaboration were identified |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/partnerships/collaborative-partnerships-office/global/singapore/ |
| Description | Lifelong Ageing Fair |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Lifelong ageing fair, organized by The Sciences of Ageing and The Culture of Youth at King's college London was held in Lambeth town hall and including stands and talks by experts in Ageing. I gave two talks attending by around 30 elderly members of the public. We also had an interactive stand hosted by members of my team where we discussed our work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/saacy |
| Description | Lifelong Ageing Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | This Lifelong Ageing workshop brings together ECRs taking a lifecourse perspective of ageing with interested participants from local and national charities and other third sector organizations. I presented our work on biological and metabolic ageing to researchers from humanities, gerontologists and interacted with representatives who regularly engage with the public on the topic of Ageing. I was engaged with the discussion and feedback on the potential impacts/concerns of the commercialization of research on biological age. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/lifelong-ageing |
| Description | Nordic UK-Brain Network Seminar series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Provided an overview of metabolomics-based approaches for generation of biomarker profiles across the life course; with a focus on biological ageing, and also in relation to AD/dementia development, to network of research in biomarker based dementia prevention |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://sites.uef.fi/neuro/uef-nordic-uk-brain-network/ |
| Description | Presentation at Conference on Policy Solutions for Childhood Obesity: From science to policy implementation 17/11/21 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Conference on Policy Solutions for Childhood Obesity: From science to policy implementation provides the latest insights into the results of two European projects - STOP and JA Best-ReMaP - on reducing obesity in children Childhood obesity has become one of the most pressing public health concerns of our time. In 2017, 29% of boys and 27% of girls aged 6-9 years in Europe were overweight or obese and Covid-19 has contributed to the increased obesity trends in children. These children are likely to stay obese in adulthood and more likely to develop non-communicable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at a younger age. Therefore, scientists, healthcare professionals and health policy-makers joined forces to identify, evaluate and implement effective approaches to prevent childhood obesity and reduce disease risk. As the side event of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a high-level event on food policy eas organised online on 17th and 18th of November 2021. The conference will link two projects, the Science & Technology in childhood Obesity Policy (STOP) Horizon 2020 research project, and the Joint Action on Best Practices in Nutrition (JA Best-ReMaP), both aiming at the reduction of obesity rates with special focus on children and adolescents. The conference of the two projects was organized as a joint high-level event, based on the idea to facilitate the translation of research knowledge into policy implementation. The STOP project is aiming to generate scientifically sound and policy-relevant evidence on the factors, that have contributed to the spread of childhood obesity. They also examine the effects of alternative policy options available to address the problem, such as food reformulation and limiting food marketing. A range of key actors in the health and food sector in the EU is contributing to this work. JA Best-ReMaP brings together food authorities and other relevant stakeholders of the Member States. It is working with good practices in the areas of food reformulation, reducing food marketing to children and public procurement of healthy food in public settings. By adapting, replicating and implementing effective health interventions they would like to contribute to an increased offer of healthier food options available to children in EU markets. The joint conference - building on the synergies of the two projects - contributed to the recommendations addressed to national authorities and the European Commission for future policy actions to effectively decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://bestremap.eu/conference-on-policy-solutions-for-childhood-obesity/ |
| Description | Royal Institute event: For your Inspiration Earth Extremes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Around 200 people (mainly younger adults and children) attended this event sand enjoyed interacting at out stall: (MRC Centre in Environment and Health) How old am I really? How molecules can reveal your biological age |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/your-inspiration-earth-extremes |
| Description | TILDA Seminar Series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Seminar given to researchers and collaborators involved in the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing, as part of a regular seminar series |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |