EXC 2030:  Cologne Cluster of Excellence on Aging and Aging-associated Diseases

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390661388

Today’s world is witnessing an ever-increasing number of older people. Aging is the primary risk factor for diabetes, cardiac, kidney, neurodegenerative, and skin diseases – among others. This dramatic demographic change poses enormous health and socio-economic challenges for societies, highlighting the urgent need to foster a healthy aging agenda. The landmark discovery that modifying evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways extends life- and healthspan formed the scientific foundation of the Cologne Cluster of Excellence on Aging and Aging-associated Diseases (CECAD) in 2007. CECAD’s mission was to define the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the aging process as potential novel targets for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of aging-associated diseases. Since then, CECAD has become the largest hub for aging research within Europe bringing together basic researchers and clinicians of the University of Cologne, the University Hospital Cologne, the Max Planck Institutes for Biology of Ageing and for Metabolism Research, and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases having access to a wide range of model systems and state-of-the-art technical and translational infrastructure. CECAD initially defined the cell-autonomous mechanisms underlying aging and aging-associated diseases, which, for the current funding period, was expanded to reveal key mechanisms of interorgan communication and interactions of the organism with the environment. These major advances resulted in the first translation of these discoveries towards solutions for aging-associated diseases. In the next funding period, CECAD will tackle the next frontier in aging research and will address why individuals exhibit highly variable aging trajectories and disease risks as well as how environment, sex, and genetic makeup influence the interactions between different aging mechanisms to determine individual organismal aging trajectories. CECAD has now defined three new research areas (RAs): RA-1: Molecular, cellular, and inter-tissue networks in organismal aging; RA-2: Beneficial and maladaptive stress signaling in aging and aging-associated diseases; RA-3: Environmental factors, sexual dimorphism, and transgeneration in organismal aging trajectories. CECAD will establish a novel Synergy Program aimed at achieving cross-cutting goals of its three RAs alongside a new interdisciplinary Postdoc Academy. CECAD will also strategically adjust its highly successful research platforms (RPs) to expand on state-of-the-art technology in RP-A, to ramp up its translational activities in RP-B, to train the best aging researchers of tomorrow within an international and inclusive environment in RP-C, to communicate the Cluster´s research activities in new RP-D, and to strengthen its research data management in new RP-E. Thus, CECAD is ideally positioned to translate new discoveries from its pioneering research program into solutions to foster healthy aging.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
• 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
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Thomas Benzing; Professor Dr. Thorsten Hoppe, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Björn Schumacher, since 1/2026
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Adam Antebi; Professor Dr. Andreas Beyer; Professorin Dr. Katarzyna Bozek; Professor Dr. Jens Claus Brüning; Professorin Dr. Sabine Eming; Professor Dr. Christian Frezza; Professor Filipe Jose Gomes Cabreiro, Ph.D.; Professor Jan Hoeijmakers, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Frank Jessen; Professorin Dr. Natalia Kononenko; Professorin Dr. Tatiana Korotkova; Professor Dr. Thomas Langer; Dr. Orsolya Leidecker; Professor Dr. Manolis Pasparakis; Dr. Jane Reznick; Professorin Dr. Elena Irene Rugarli; Professorin Dr. Anne Schaefer; Professorin Dr. Aleksandra Trifunovic; Professorin Dr. Mirka Uhlirova; Professor Dr. David Vilchez; Gabriele Zaffagnini, Ph.D.