Unique transatlantic tie-up to understand the aging process

09 dec 2008--Increased life expectancy in the developed world is forecast to lead to a dramatically older population in coming decades. For society to cope and for more people to enjoy healthy and active older age it is crucial that we understand as much as possible about how our bodies change as we age. To help scientists working in this area two leading funding bodies in the UK and US have joined forces to fund a programme of collaborative transatlantic bioscience research into the ageing process.

The UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the US National Institute on Aging (NIA) have come together in the first agreement of its kind in the biosciences to fund collaborative UK-US research projects into normal ageing. BBSRC and NIA have committed a total of almost £4M to the collaborative programme. The programme will fund genuinely collaborative proposals that bring together research groups from both countries. The call for proposals from researchers is now open.

Prof Doug Kell, Chief Executive of BBSRC, said: "As lifespan increases we need to work to ensure that health-span increases as well. This is an issue that affects every person, in Britain, America or elsewhere, and we can only hope to enjoy healthy and active older age if scientists are able to probe the processes that occur as we age naturally and normally.

"I am proud that US and UK scientists will be working together on this important area under the auspices of this BBSRC and NIA joint programme."

The aim of the programme is to develop research links between UK and US research groups so that in addition to furthering our understanding of the healthy biology of ageing the ageing research effort on both sides of the Atlantic will benefit in the long term.

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Contact: BBSRC Media Office
Matt Goode, Tel: 01793 413299, email: matt.goode@bbsrc.ac.uk
Nancy Mendoza, Tel: 01793 413355, email: nancy.mendoza@bbsrc.ac.uk