An older woman smiling as she exercises

Is there a cure for ageing?

What if getting old didn't mean getting ill? Although we're living longer in most parts of the world, advancing age has been revealed as the major risk factor for serious diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and dementia.

Increasing interest is therefore turning to the potential for intervening in the ageing process itself to prevent multiple age-related diseases simultaneously. Ageing does indeed turn out to be a malleable process and, surprisingly, to have much in common between humans and laboratory animals.

Recent discoveries have revealed that existing drugs can be repurposed to combat ageing, and that it may well be possible to keep us healthier for longer as we age.

This event was held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 13 February 2018.

Professor Dame Linda Partridge FRS

Professor Partridge is Director of the Institute of Healthy Ageing at University College London, and a founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany.

Professor Dame Linda Partridge works on the biology of ageing. Her research is directed to understanding both how the rate of ageing evolves in nature and the mechanisms by which healthy lifespan can be extended.

Her work has focused in particular on the role of nutrient-sensing pathways, such as the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling pathway, and on dietary restriction. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Royal Society’s Croonian Prize Lecture, and was honoured with a DBE for Services to Science in 2009. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

She is Director of the Institute of Healthy Ageing at University College London and a founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany. 

The Charles Perkins Centre Annual Lecture reflects our commitment to promoting discussion and debate within the community about life-changing solutions to global problems and to ensuring access to some of the world’s most remarkable minds. Find out more about the Charles Perkins Centre.

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