Project Details
Projekt
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
Increasing life expectancy is concomitant with increased risk of aging-associated diseases, e.g. obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. These diseases pose enormous challenges both for individuals and societies in terms of life quality and economic burden, thereby necessitating an urgent need for aging societies to address these health concerns. To date, research efforts have concentrated on investigating the pathophysiology of singular diseases. However, the remarkable recent discovery that mutations in single genes can extend healthy lifespan implies that they can also reduce the impact of a broad spectrum of aging-related damage and pathology. Thus, this discovery has profound implications for aging research and could revolutionise approaches for prevention and treatment of aging-associated diseases. To be able to effectively treat diseases, there must first be a thorough understanding of the mechanisms underlying them.
To this end, the Cologne cluster of excellence on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases (CECAD) will be the unifying driving force bringing together researchers and clinicians at the University of Cologne with researchers at the future Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging in a unique research venture to advance understanding in this field. The mission of CECAD will be to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying lifespan regulation and aging-associated diseases to set the ground to achieve its long-term objective of developing novel therapeutic interventions. CECAD will have four core research areas:
(1) cellular stress signalling and dysfunction during aging,
(2) senescence of membranes and age-related impairment of pathogen defense,
(3) inflammation in aging-associated diseases, and
(4) metabolic pathways in aging-associated diseases.
These research areas will be supported by three platforms ensuring
(1) access to state-of-the-art technology and model organisms,
(2) coordination of education and training activities, gender equality programmes and public outreach and
(3) translation of basic to clinical research. CECAD also intends to integrate three new chairs and three new independent junior research groups into its ranks to complement and extend the expertise of groups currently established at the University of Cologne and the future Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging. Such measures will make CECAD the first ever research centre in Europe to dedicate itself solely to discovering the underlying mechanisms of aging along with those triggering aging-associated diseases.
To this end, the Cologne cluster of excellence on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases (CECAD) will be the unifying driving force bringing together researchers and clinicians at the University of Cologne with researchers at the future Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging in a unique research venture to advance understanding in this field. The mission of CECAD will be to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying lifespan regulation and aging-associated diseases to set the ground to achieve its long-term objective of developing novel therapeutic interventions. CECAD will have four core research areas:
(1) cellular stress signalling and dysfunction during aging,
(2) senescence of membranes and age-related impairment of pathogen defense,
(3) inflammation in aging-associated diseases, and
(4) metabolic pathways in aging-associated diseases.
These research areas will be supported by three platforms ensuring
(1) access to state-of-the-art technology and model organisms,
(2) coordination of education and training activities, gender equality programmes and public outreach and
(3) translation of basic to clinical research. CECAD also intends to integrate three new chairs and three new independent junior research groups into its ranks to complement and extend the expertise of groups currently established at the University of Cologne and the future Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging. Such measures will make CECAD the first ever research centre in Europe to dedicate itself solely to discovering the underlying mechanisms of aging along with those triggering aging-associated diseases.
DFG Programme
Clusters of Excellence
Applicant Institution
Universität zu Köln
Participating Institution
Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE); Max-Planck-Institut für Biologie des Alterns; Max-Planck-Institut für Stoffwechselforschung
Spokesperson
Professor Dr. Jens Claus Brüning
Participating Researchers
Professor Dr. Adam Antebi; Professor Dr. Thomas Benzing; Professor Dr. Oliver Cornely; Professor Dr. Michael Hallek; Professor Dr. Matthias Hammerschmidt; Professor Dr. Thorsten Hoppe; Professor Dr. Peter Kloppenburg; Professor Dr. Thomas Krieg; Professor Dr. Martin Krönke; Professor Dr. Thomas Langer; Professor Dr. Nils-Göran Larsson; Professor Dr. Pierluigi Nicotera; Professorin Dr. Carien Niessen; Professorin Dr. Angelika A. Noegel; Professor Dr. Peter Nürnberg; Professorin Dr. Linda Partridge; Professor Dr. Manolis Pasparakis; Professorin Dr. Elena Irene Rugarli; Professor Dr. Björn Schumacher; Professor Dr. Günter Schwarz; Professorin Dr. Aleksandra Trifunovic; Professorin Dr. Mirka Uhlirova
