Date: 8 March 2018
Time: 8-9AM
Venue: Seminar Room T09-04, Level 9, NUHS Tower Block
Speaker: Prof Brian Kennedy, Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology, NUS and Director of National University Health System (NUHS) Centre for Healthy Ageing
Chairperson: Prof Kua Ee Heok, Senior Consultant, Dept. of Psychological Medicine, NUH
Brief abstract:
There is a growing sense that a holistic understanding of ageing biology may be achievable. This would represent a tremendous advance in our collective biological understanding and afford opportunities for novel interventions to enhance human healthspan. Ageing is the biggest risk factor for the majorchronic diseases growing in prominence. These include cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer. If ageing can be slowed, the effect would be simultaneous protection from many of the chronic diseases. One strategy is to use animal model organisms to find common pathways that modulate ageing and then to seek methods for their manipulation in humans. The TOR pathway is one point of convergence and a clinically approved drug targeting the TOR kinase, rapamycin, extends murine lifespan and healthspan. Many more small molecules are being added to the list of anti-ageing compounds. Here, I will summarize the ageing field and use examples to conceptualize how agents extending healthspan might be developed to improve human health. We are now entering a stage in the development of this research field where it is imperative to test ageing interventions in humans. The potential to directly impact human healthspan is emerging from ageing research and this approach, if successful, will dramatically impact medical care in this century, which is characterized by a rapidly ageing global population.