The MRC Agenda on Ageing

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The MRC Agenda on Ageing

• General
• Trend to inter-research council initiatives
• Calls for specific multidisciplinary research
  themes
• High value proposals with high failure rate
• Lack of integration in most proposals
• Moving towards clinical neurosciences?
• Participating in three foresight projects
• Cognitive systems
• Exploiting the electro-magnetic spectrum
• Brain science and drugs
• Player in ESRC fronted New Dynamics of Ageing
  Call, ESRC
• AHRC Workshop 4th October 2006
• Launch Conference 1st November, QE II, London,
  2006
• Outline deadline 14th November, 2006
• On line report www.ipsos-mori.com - Public
  consultation on Ageing Research into Public
  Attitudes Towards BBSRC and MRC-Funded Research
  on Aging, 2006
• On line report www.cwts.nl/ed/mrc-aging/results.h
  tml - Mapping the field of human ageing research
  (1993-2000), Noyons and v Raan 2001

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Reaction

• Press release 26 July Public say prevention is
  single most important area for research into age
  related ill health. Results will be used to
  inform strategic decision making.
• Goodfellow, BBSRC In order to help prevent
  diseases and conditions associated with ageing we
  need to understand the basic biology of how we
  age. We are very interested that the public view
  prevention as so important.
• Blakemore, MRC 'Throughout the developed world
  there is an increasingly elderly population. This
  has been identified as a top priority by the
  Treasury as longer life expectancy creates the
  challenge of ill-health associated with old age.
  The results of this public consultation will help
  to us to set priorities for funding for medical
  research into age-related conditions. The future
  challenge will be to translate research results
  into benefits for the ageing population.
• Discussed meetings on July 25/26. The debate led
  by the question What can science do to help our
  ageing population?

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(2001) Publications map of ageing

• I-1 Imaging-misc (4)
• I-2 PET imaging (12)
• J-1 Growth factors (2)
• J-2 Cell biology (14)
• J-3 Apoptosis (21)
• J-4 Genetics (29)
• J-5 Free radicals/oxidative sterss (30)
• N-1 Alzheimer's - biology (6)
• N-10 Neurobiology (34)
• N-11 Stroke (37)
• N-2 Neurodegenerative disease (10)
• N-3 Schizophrenia (15)
• N-4 Cerebral ischemia (20)
• N-5 Dementia care/causes (23)
• N-6 Depression (24)
• N-7 Neurology (25)
• N-8 Parkinson's (28)
• N-9 Stroke/head injury (31)

• A-1 Glaucoma/vision (3)
• B-1 Diabetes obesity (13)
• B-2 Hypertension cvd (17)
• B-3 circulatory and renal (33)
• B-4 Body composition/activity (36)
• C-1 misc. clinical/integrative (7)
• C-2 Social environmental (16)
• C-3 Race (26)
• D-1 Osteoporosis (5)
• D-2 Menopause/osteoporosis (27)
• E-1 Surgery (9)
• F-1 Growth hormone (1)
• G-1 Infection (11)
• H-1 H. pylori Gastrointestinal cancer (8)
• H-2 Prostate cancer 1 (18)
• H-3 Prostate cancer 2 (19)
• H-4 Breast cancer (22)
• H-5 Cancer-misc (32)
• H-6 Benign prostate disease (35)

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Red increase, Blue decrease
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C-1 misc. clinical/integrative (7) colours
cluster