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Start / Research / Research Profile / Aging and age related diseases

Aging and age related diseases

Our increasingly aging population requires new medical approaches across the entire healthcare system. The goal of our research is to decipher general age-associated mechanisms that contribute to neuronal maintenance, cell repair, and brain plasticity. By elucidating the causes of pain and inflammation, we hope to find new treatment approaches for chronic diseases.

Research networks at the UKJ, or networks in which UKJ scientists are involved:

DFG projects

  • GRK 2155 ProMoAge
    The aim of the Research Training Group is to investigate posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of cellular proteins as key players in age progression. Scientists from the universities of Halle and Jena as well as from the Leibniz Institute of Age Research Jena combine their expertise from various fields of chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, biomedicine and “omics”-based technologies to characterise PTM-mediated mechanisms of functional decline during ageing.

  • RU 2293 Active Perception

    Visual functions are known to be particularly prone to normal aging processes and also to beginning Alzheimer-type neurodegeneration. In healthy observers, certain components of visuo-attentional functioning, including perceptual processing speed and top-down control, are influenced by preparation and expectancy effects. The aim of the proposed project is to examine how normal and pathological aging modulate such active perception effects on processing speed and top-down control of attention. Furthermore, we plan to assess how resting state brain network connectivity changes mediate these age effects.

  • RU 5151 QuaLiPerF
    The QuaLiPerf research unit is developing a model that can quantify liver blood flow and function with high spatial resolution in both healthy and diseased states. The model will potentially be used in the planning of major surgeries to predict residual liver function and the course of regeneration. The interdisciplinary team from six research institutions combines surgery and hepatology, imaging, bioinformatics, and data science.
  • DFG Clinician Scientist-Program OrganAge
    Age-associated changes predispose for diseases. It is the aim of the present program to explore ageing mechanisms as e.g. stem cell ageing, immune ageing, autophagy, epigenetic and metabolic pathways as targets for the development of therapeutic interventions. This approach inherently requires an interdisciplinary interaction of specialists from different medical fields, e.g. internal medicine, surgery, neurology and others. Simultaneously, the program is part of an enduring structure enabling career pathways for clinician scientists.

Federally funded projects

  • Junior Research Group Neurogeriatrics

    In the junior research group, geriatrician and neurologist PD Dr. Tino Prell at the University Hospital Jena is researching the extent to which older neurological patients adhere to the agreed treatment recommendations in the clinic and after discharge, and how treatment adherence can be improved.

  • The aim of the Center for Translational Medicine – CeTraMed, a new research building funded under Section 91b of the Basic Law, is to elucidate the mechanisms of age-associated diseases using biophotonic methods in order to develop new forms of diagnostics and therapy. 

  • The wecare alliance is funded as part of the "WIR! – Change by Innovation in the Region" program. It aims to develop digitalization solutions in southeastern Thuringia that will contribute to improved healthcare and structural change in the region.

EU projects

  • ITN SmartAge
    The EU-funded SmartAge project aims to train a new generation of scientists to understand the role of the microbiome-gut-brain axis in aging and its impact on cognition. The project will apply a translational approach combining animal and human studies, nutritional and lifestyle interventions, cognitive testing, brain imaging, omics and systems biology to find regulators of gut-brain communication.

  • The ARTEMIS project aims to consolidate existing computational mechanistic and machine learning models at various scales to create "virtual twins" embedded in a clinical decision support system (CDSS). The CDSS will provide physicians with clinically meaningful information enabling more personalized management of the full spectrum of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).

Thuringian projects

  • The aim of the Center for Translational Medicine – CeTraMed, a new research building funded under Section 91b of the Basic Law, is to elucidate the mechanisms of age-associated diseases using biophotonic methods in order to develop new forms of diagnostics and therapy. 
  • The Osteoarthritis-on-a-Chip consortium is developing an osteoarthritis model on a chip. Osteoarthritis, i.e., cartilage damage, is artificially created on the chip. Potential active substances can then be tested. This system is intended to help reduce or even replace animal testing in the future.

  • Using AI and high-resolution microscopy, the AI-SupER project is mapping the endoplasmic reticulum. The researchers aim to learn more about the details of the structure and function of this largest cellular organ, especially in nerve cells. Their goal is to better understand the mechanisms of hereditary neurodegenerative diseases, which are often caused by genetic alterations in this cellular organ. 

Projects supported by foundations

Partners and networks