Members’ Directory

The AWRC is a leading centre for physical activity research and innovation. We bring together multiple academic disciplines such as sports engineering, health, robotics, computing, sport science, psychology, design, and the arts; creating collaborations with industry, local communities, local authorities, charities and the health and technology sectors.

Our mission is to transform lives through innovations that help people move. This is at the heart of everything we do and reflects a belief that physical activity, in its many forms, has significant benefits for individuals, communities, the economy and wider society. Harnessing the power of human movement through our research, innovation and knowledge exchange is the space occupied by the AWRC. We exist to transform lives.

TwinsUK is the UK’s largest adult twin registry and the most clinically detailed in the world. Since setting up the cohort in 1992, the registry now has over 16,000 identical and non-identical twins from across the UK, with ages between eighteen and one hundred. TwinsUK aims to investigate the genetic and environmental basis of a range of complex diseases and conditions. Current research includes the genetics of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, the musculoskeletal system, ageing, sight, diet and the microbiome. TwinsUK data have enabled multiple collaborations with research groups worldwide and the publication of 1,000 research papers in the last ten years. 

The Centre for Lifelong Health has scientific expertise in exploring novel solutions to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a range of chronic diseases

Research takes advantage of the multi- and inter-disciplinary nature of its staff with strong links between the biological and chemical sciences.  This work has generated novel compounds and ligands to manipulate the ageing process, explored factors that are important in the initiation and progression of disease, identified new drug targets to treat a range of chronic conditions, and has developed i) novel ways to diagnose a range of conditions and ii) devices to replace or improve organ function

We have international expertise in the areas of Ageing, Cancer, Gastrointestinal disorders, Hearing, HIV and Musculo-skeletal disorders.

The Better Living in Later Life Network is a multidisciplinary consortium of academics and practitioners which seeks to improve the lives of people as they age. The primary purpose of the network is to understand the experiences of individuals in later life and transform practice, policy and workforce training and development, to enable individuals to age better.

Our research includes a range of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches to investigate these phenomena from multi-sited, mixed method evaluations of technology-enabled care services in England to international comparative studies of hydration practices in care homes.

Our civic approach to research and knowledge mobilisation involves working closely with affected communities, governments, and other stakeholders in the North East of England, the UK, and globally. Through these activities, our research has transformed care, well-being, and quality of life interventions and policy through the generation of transformative and impactful evidence and innovative ideas.

Ageing research at the University of Glasgow is varied and cutting edge; scientists from a wide range of disciplines use state-of-the-art approaches to understand the causes and consequences of ageing. The Glasgow Ageing Research Network brings these diverse approaches together with a group of researchers committed to pursuing inter-disciplinary approaches to ageing research. Combining our strengths in clinical research, ecology and evolutionary biology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, engineering, psychology and social science, the Glasgow Ageing Research Network explores all the facets of ageing, from the mechanisms underlying it to how ageing impacts on the lives of people and animals.

We enable businesses to harness the opportunities related to the longevity economy through human experience, ethics, data, collaboration, emerging technologies & innovative business models.

The Centre for Research on Ageing is an international and multi-disciplinary research centre examining key issues in ageing and the lifecourse, informing policy and debate at the national and local level.

Through high quality research, the Centre for Research on Ageing contributes to a better understanding of the experience of ageing amongst different groups and societies, which will in turn place us in a better strategic position to improve the quality of life of older people. 

Building on existing internationally recognised and transformative research networks the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR) is a world class research centre addressing key internationally important questions in ageing and dementia. The Centre integrates multi-disciplinary activity and develops areas of expertise from biological, through psycho-social and environmental, to social policy in ageing and dementia.

The Healthy Ageing & Chronic Conditions Research Institute is leading innovative inter-disciplinary approaches to promote lifelong health & deliver improved interventions to manage chronic conditions more efficiently. Throughout our lives we are exposed to environmental, biological, psychological, & social factors that affect our health & well-being. The Healthy Ageing & Chronic Conditions Research Institute produces high quality evidence to better understand these factors, & to develop policies & practices to support people to age well.

MyAge is a UK interdisciplinary network researching muscle resilience across the life course: from cells to society. Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council, we aim to improve understanding of the mechanisms leading to reduced muscle function and to set the direction of future research leading to effective interventions. 

We work with policy makers, funders, business, healthcare professionals, inequality experts and public, to tackle the biggest questions in muscle ageing.  

Queen's on Ageing brings together scholarship and research activity from Queen’s University about the issues around ageing in order to build further connections and increase the impact of our work. 

We are a research network which allows researchers to come together to pool their expertise across all three Faculties of the university. The network provides a space for researchers to develop Queen’s outstanding reputation for research on ageing in medical, social, cultural and allied disciplines​.

We provide support and encouragement to researchers of ageing at all levels from postgraduate students to senior professors. We work across disciplines, sharing a commitment to supporting and advocating for older people as service users, citizens and full members of our society​.

The Caring for People with Complex Needs research centre reflects the changing nature of health and social care provision and the challenges faced by individuals with complex needs, their families and the staff who care for them.

We carry out person-centred research with specific population groups (older people, individuals with intellectual disabilities, palliative care recipients) and with people who have complex needs resulting from cancer and diabetes.

The Centre for Environment, Dementia and Ageing Research (CEDAR) conducts multidisciplinary research focused on social, built, natural and care environments for older people and people living with dementia.

Research produced by CEDAR has a strong applied emphasis, older people are front and centre in all our projects, and CEDAR’s research advances our conceptual understanding of ageing and dementia in society.

Research is commonly co-produced with research beneficiaries, and group members continue to innovate in working with vulnerable research participants, for example through arts-based methods.

Our Dementia Research Group at the University of Hull focuses on research into dementia care not cure. Our mission is to empower people with dementia and their carers to live well. We aim to deliver research on psychosocial interventions and resources that can improve the daily lives of people with dementia and their families. All our research is carried out in collaboration with our lived experience group the Hull Dementia Advisory Board.

Research is the prime activity of the School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health and forms the central core around which all our other activities, including teaching, training, clinical care and public outreach take place. In order to achieve our objectives, we need to further support our areas of strength, but also concentrate more effort and resources on the areas identified as demonstrating potential to be fields of research excellence.

ART of Healthy Ageing. Building the capacity to translate discoveries in ageing science to intervention studies in humans across the life course. Major advances are being made in ageing science, but these advances are not always being translated from the laboratory to the clinic. The ART (Ageing Research Translation) of Healthy Ageing Network, funded by BBSRC-MRC, aims to address this by bringing together people from a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to the biology of ageing, epidemiology, physiology, sports and exercise medicine, geriatric medicine, clinical trials, social gerontology and data science.

Cambridge Public Health is an interdisciplinary Research Centre. We aim to build
connections between researchers, foster collaborations with health professionals working
outside of academia and conduct research that improves the health and wellbeing of
populations.
Our Life Course and Ageing theme explores the rapid ageing of populations around the
world. People are living longer than ever before with huge benefits for families, communities
and societies. There are also widespread challenges with ageing populations, including health
conditions (such as dementia and heart disease), health inequalities, and changing housing,
transport and social needs.

A leading multidisciplinary centre conducting ageing research and developing interventions for health concerns of later life

CAPS aims to better understand age-related conditions that impact on well-being and independence in later life. We also aim to translate this knowledge to develop and test complex interventions to improve health and well-being and maintain independence for older people.

The mission of the Aston Research Centre for Health in Ageing (ARCHA) is to understand, predict, prevent and treat age-related degeneration and disease. We have a specific focus on health, metabolism, the mind, and medicines in the context of the biology, psychology, and clinical aspects of ageing. 

Our cross-disciplinary team of researchers specialise in biology, psychology, medicine, pharmacy and allied health sciences. Research within the centre contributes to two of the College of Health and Life Sciences’ four key multidisciplinary themes; cellular and molecular biomedicine, and health and disease across the lifespan.

We focus on the study and application of motivation. We aim to understand the determinants of wellness and health, and guide behaviour-change interventions.

Our research aims to better understand the determinants of health and wellbeing in the context of key public health issues. We strive to guide the development, refinement, and testing of novel and innovative interdisciplinary health behaviour-change interventions.

The Healthy Lifespan Institute is transforming the experience of ageing. We’re the UK’s first interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding and preventing multimorbidity and frailty - to help everyone live healthier lives for longer.

From the moment we are conceived there are factors that influence how we age. These include the social and economic environments we live and work in, as well as our individual biology and behaviour.  Our rate of ageing predicts our health span, i.e. the number of years we can expect to live an independent, healthy life. The slower our rate of ageing, the more resilient we are to multimorbidity, the presence of two or more chronic health conditions, which leads to frailty, and low quality of life in later years. 

The Centre for Research on Ageing and Generations (CRAG) examines these important aspects of human experience from a life course perspective, paying attention to change over time and in relation to different social, economic, political and cultural conditions. CRAG brings together researchers from across the University of Surrey who are interested in questions of: human ageing and generations; intergenerational exchanges, practices and relations; and cross-generational solidarity and differences.

There is growing evidence that lifestyle choices have profound effects on health and wellbeing. From conception to old age, what we eat, how physically active we are, and our alcohol use can have an impact. These are challenges shared by everyone around the world.

Our vision is to provoke a step change in intervention design, delivery and evaluation. Disrupting conventional thinking and approaches, we aim to improve health across the life course.

The Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC) is a multi-disciplinary research programme combining research across fields including medicine and other care professions, engineering, informatics, data and social sciences.

Our vision is to improve the quality and sustainability of care provision and to reduce inequalities in care provision in order to enhance the quality of life, dignity and the desired level of independence of people living with multiple conditions in later life.

We are an international, interdisciplinary collaboration of academics, experts by experience, practitioners, policymakers and partners from the private and public sector. Our overarching aim is to lead, challenge and enable change to policy and practice which contributes to ageing well and living a healthy later life.

Centre for Research into the Older Workforce.

The findings from geroscience research have the potential to revolutionize the fields of healthcare and medicine, leading to the development of novel preventive and therapeutic approaches for age-related diseases.

These discoveries may ultimately contribute to extending human healthspan, which refers to the period of life during which an individual remains generally healthy and free from age-related diseases

Our research team is made up of specialists from an array of interdisciplinary fields committed to uncovering the fundamental processes that underlie the aging process at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels.

wattAGE is a research network at Heriot-Watt University bringing together interdisciplinary expertise in all aspects of age and ageing. The network comprises over 80 researchers spanning the life and physical sciences to the humanities and social sciences, based in the UK, Dubai and Malaysia. Researchers specialise in cognitive and physical development across the life course; age-related changes including diseases and impairments; AI, robotic and assistive technologies; biological mechanisms of ageing; age-friendly communities; and environments for healthy ageing. Across all projects, wattAGE takes an applied approach, working with people and communities to co-produce research that will build or maintain cognitive and physical capacity or reduce the impact of age-associated changes. A range of stakeholders inform and support the research in wattAGE, from local communities and third sector partners, residential and care providers, to industry. wattAGE sits within Heriot-Watt’s Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies, a centre of excellence bridging the gap between academia and practical application, working closely with industry partners to translate cutting-edge research into impactful health and care technology solutions.

Improving the health and wellbeing of older people and challenging inequalities in later life. Increasing longevity is a major achievement of human history. But not everyone can look forward to a wealthy, healthy or long life.

Where people live and the social groups they belong to greatly influences experiences of later life. Too often, research and policy on ageing fails to consider the inequality that affects ageing adults.

The Healthy Ageing & Care Research Network connects over 100 researchers from a wide range of disciplines across the university to partners in the community, business, and the public sector, in order to better understand and address the complex challenges and opportunities of an ageing world. We work closely with the Oxford Institute of Applied Health Research (OxInAHR), the Institute of Public Care (IPC), the Centre for Movement, Occupational and Rehabilitation Sciences (MOReS), and other centres of excellence across the university.

The Institute promotes and supports a wide range of interdisciplinary research, co-created with external partners, that seeks to identify, explain and overcome social, economic, political and cultural obstacles to egalitarian respect and social inclusion.

KISI brings researchers from across the University together with external partners to address a range of problems related to the marginalisation, under-representation and disempowerment of various social groups, including work with older people that builds on Keele's pioneering Centre for Social Gerontology.

Our work with older people is presently focused in two directions. Firstly, on Creative Ageing, that builds on the widely recognised Ages and Stages work of Prof Mim Bernard, MBE, and led now by Prof David Amigoni, in collaboration with the New Vic Theatre, North Staffs. KISI also hosts the coCREATE network, launched in 2021, this network integrates all the innovative community-based, collaborative and creative research across the University. And secondly, the clinical work of Prof Carolyn Chew-Graham's team, which focuses on older people's mental health in Keele's School of Medicine.

New scientific discoveries, new hope to stop dementia

We do original, groundbreaking research that will transform lives. We attract the brightest minds and give them the best technology and research tools. We work with each other, with people living with dementia and their families, with the wider scientific community and with industry to translate our findings into treatments. We are renowned for the quality of our science, our willingness to share data, ideas and resources, and our unwavering commitment to stop dementia in its tracks.

The Centre for Ageing and the Life Course (CALC) explores the underpinning factors shaping inequalities in ageing, as well as the subjective meaning and lived experience of health and well-being in later life.

Led by social scientists, our members' disciplinary backgrounds cover a wide variety of disciplines including: arts and the humanities, public health, clinical medicine, and biological science. In true interdisciplinary fashion, we strive to address questions of concern to age and ageing by employing the most appropriate mix of theoretical and practical frameworks. 

The Ageing & Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at Bournemouth University brings together cross-faculty research expertise in areas of ageing and dementia. The research team is supported by experts in health and social science, and in science and technology. The aim of the ADRC is to use the team’s collective expertise to develop person-centred research which will improve the lives of people with dementia and their families.

The team at the Centre works closely with people with dementia and their carers in the development and implementation of their research.

Age & Diversity Research Space asks 'How can designers shape a future that is inclusive of all?'

Design touches people’s lives every day. Within the Age & Diversity Research Space, we consider people’s everyday experiences over the broadest dimensions of age and diversity. We explore age in all its guises – whether that is digital age, social age, educational age, the age spectrum, or life course transitions; however, we do not focus exclusively on later life.

The Community and Primary Care Research Group (CPCRG) is intensively research active and has a strong proven track record of Health Services Research. Our research is often directed towards those individuals who are the most excluded or disempowered, have mental health problems and have difficulty accessing services. 

CPCRG is at the forefront of advancing dementia research, with a focus on improving the support and quality of life of people with dementia and their carers. We are a collaborative group of researchers and clinicians aiming to address the local and global challenges faced by those affected by dementia.

Research into robotics technologies, intelligent sensors and AI to realise user-centred innovative healthcare solutions that improve Quality of Life, Health and Well-being.

We are a multi-disciplinary group and our research covers the design, development and evaluation of socially and physically assistive robots, rehabilitation robotics and smart prosthetics, smart home and wearable sensors, as well as apps for health and well-being.

Underpinning these systems, our research covers the foundational areas of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence, data fusion, human-robot interaction, machine vision, safety and ethics.

The Centre for Health Technology (CHT) brings together academics from a wide range of disciplines in the University’s Faculties of Health, Science and Engineering, and Arts Humanities and Business. CHT also enjoys brilliant external partnerships - with our local health and care systems, businesses and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector; with regional and national NHSE and with national and international companies and academics.

Recognising that adoption of Digital Health Technologies (DHTs) in health and care rests on both technological excellence and the need to address a range of architectural, evidential, socio-economic and cultural challenges, CHT brings together a truly multi-disciplinary team. Some of our members specialise in the development of novel DHTs (from apps and wearables, virtual reality and robotics to the deployment of AI). Others bring expertise in implementation science, knowledge mobilisation and evaluation (inc. economic evaluation) to support digital transformation. 

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) works to transform lives through world-leading research in ageing and multiple long-term conditions.

Our experimental medicine and translational research turns innovative ideas and discoveries into practical benefits for patients, as well as contributing to the local and national economy.​

ReMind UK is an internationally renowned research and treatment centre, with our headquarters located in Bath. We’re an independent charity focused on essential research and providing support for people with dementia and other conditions of older age, their families and carers.

The Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice is committed to championing excellence advancing dementia policy and practice through education, applied research and social enterprise in three key activities:

Policy influencing and implementation.

Applied research for policy and practice

Education to promote evidence informed practice

The Beth Johnson Foundation is a local charity with national influence. We are dedicated to improving later life within our local community and to helping make the UK age friendly.

At the Beth Johnson Foundation, we want everyone to enjoy a great later life. By listening to, learning from, and sharing people’s stories of ageing, we can work together to help build a future for all ages.  We share the voices of older people and push for positive changes in our communities.

IMPACT is the UK centre for implementing evidence in adult social care. Working across the four nations and with co-production at its heart, we draw on insights from research, lived experience, and practice knowledge to make a difference to front-line services, and to people’s lives.

We believe “good support isn’t just about ‘services’ – it’s about having a life.“ In pursuit of this vision of adult social care, key objectives for the centre are to enable practical improvements on the ground and make a crucial contribution to longer-term cultural change by:

Ageing Research at King’s (ARK) is a cross-faculty multidisciplinary consortium which brings together scholarship, research, innovation and entrepreneurship in ageing across the life course in several complementary fields. ARK is a leading industry-academic R&D hub for personalised and preventive diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics, and represents King’s world class excellence for research on the biology of ageing, from the basic mechanisms in biogerontology to clinical translation and the social impact of ageing to better inform global policy makers.

ALIBSA is a knowledge exchange platform aimed at addressing the health needs of older Black and Asian adults, specifically focusing on the intersections of race, health access, and service uptake. By emphasising health literacy and empowering these communities with knowledge, ALIBSA provides a platform that fosters autonomy over their health choices. ALIBSA plays a significant role in bridging gaps in healthcare access, encouraging informed decision-making, and ultimately improving health outcomes for older Black and Asian adults..

Designing for Age, Agency & Joy.

Design Age Institute is the UK’s national strategic unit for design and the healthy ageing economy. We bring together designers, businesses, researchers and communities to help address the challenges and opportunities of an ageing society. Design Age Institute is perfectly placed to use design led innovation to bridge the gap between people’s needs as they age and the development of desirable and commercially viable products and services that increase demand and enable happier ageing.

Through the transformative power of design, we aim to help everyone age happier and healthier.

We investigate the challenges of health and social care, as well as the social, economic and policy consequences of ageing populations in both developed and developing worlds. 

Founded in 1986, our Institute leads excellent research and teaching in critical areas for ageing societies and older people, including healthy ageing, long-term care, employment, social participation, age-friendly cities, grandparents, housing and social policy. 

Scottish Brain Sciences has been created by a team of scientific experts with over 25 years’ experience of delivering world-leading neuroscience research. Backed by investors, pharmaceutical partners and leading universities, we are committed to delivering a step change in the early detection and treatment of brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

We deliver clinical trials of new tests and medicines that aim to detect brain disease early and treat it before it progresses to dementia. We provide a full-service model for clinical research, with dedicated brain health research centres, an in-house laboratory and imaging services.

The cross-ARC care home network was created to bring together a network of health and care professionals, researchers and members of the public who are interested in applied health and social care research in care homes. Established in 2017 and led by the ARC East of England, the network works across the ageing and dementia specialities and links researchers together to maximise the impact of care home research work. 

The UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing (IHA) is a centre of excellence for research on the biology of ageing and ageing-related diseases.

Ageing is now the predominant cause of disease worldwide and yet it remains poorly understood.

The Centre is based in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. Our mission is to advance knowledge and understanding in the field of adult social care through multidisciplinary research and collaboration. CARE will generate high quality evidence about social care for adults (including older adults), rooted in the experience of people who receive care and support and those who provide care, and based on the most rigorous research approaches suitable for the questions being addressed. We are funded by Health and Care Research Wales. We welcome enquiries from potential collaborators.

Researching the implications of changing population age structure

The Oxford Institute of Population Ageing was established in 1998.  Based on the US Population Centre, it was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Health (National Institute on Aging - NIA) to establish the UK's first population centre on the demography and economics of ageing populations.  It achieved Institute status in 2001.

Our aim is to undertake research into the implications of population change.

Research Strands:

The Centre for Applied Dementia Studies is one of the UK’s leading centres for psychosocial research into living well with, and caring well for, people with dementia and their families with an additional focus on healthy ageing and dementia prevention. We have over 30 years’ experience of carrying out high-quality pioneering research to make a difference to the lives of people with dementia by influencing policy and practice. Our research is underpinned by the values of person-centred care, the rights-based approach to dementia, attention to inequities and full involvement of experts-by-experience. We have received research funding from a range of organisations including the ERSC, MRC, NIHR, Alzheimer Society and Department of Health and Social Care.  Within our Region, our research contributes to the Health Ageing Theme of the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research. We actively collaborate with the Yorkshire and Humber Applied Research Collaboration and organisations providing health and social care.

The mission of Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research (CMAR) is to increase understanding of the biology of age-related musculoskeletal deterioration, to include identification of the factors influencing an individual’s trajectory towards frailty and the processes underpinning the transition to musculoskeletal disease. We are building an internationally recognised and globally networked research platform, capable of generating novel and clinically testable approaches to reduce musculoskeletal ageing and disease. 

The Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) is an interdisciplinary research centre of the University of Reading. We take a multilevel approach to the study of brain and behaviour – from the fast neural timescale of milliseconds, to the slow timescale of life-span development. The centre is home to an advanced suite of neuroimaging technologies, a potent analytics platform, and expertise in the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity.

Lancaster University's Centre for Ageing Research (C4AR) activity focuses on how we can ensure older people experience an active and healthy older age and how we can “compress morbidity” so that periods of poor health in later life start later. In this way, our healthy lifespan becomes closer to our actual lifespan.

This will have significant impacts on us all as individuals as we age, but also on those who care for us and the costs for our health and social care systems.

Our Objectives are:

• To promote and conduct high-quality interdisciplinary research concerning ageing throughout Lancaster University, and beyond to national and international academic, policy, practitioner and older people's networks;

• To maintain our strong international visibility and reputation for ageing research and research-led teaching at Lancaster, further establishing Lancaster as a major international hub for research, scholarship and debate around ageing.

• To provide a locus for external funding applications for interdisciplinary ageing research.

• To develop postgraduate training in ageing and provide a major point of attraction for postgraduate teaching and research in the field;

• To develop CPD training on ageing for those tasked with planning and providing care and support for ageing populations across the UK and beyond. Importantly, Lancaster's reputation for interdisciplinarity underpins its strength in the field of Ageing Research, with researchers across disciplines working together with end-users of our research, including industry, health and social care, and older adults themselves, to gain detailed insights and offer more effective interventions to support a more successful ageing process.

Our pan-university Centre brings together world-leading experts who can make an impact on the development of healthy 'whole life ageing', including the utilisation of fine arts interventions, age–inclusive hospitality, sleep specialisations, and the use of immersive and user-oriented technology.

The ECMage network focuses on the ageing of extracellular matrix (ECM), a major structural & functional determinant of tissue resilience with remarkable tissue specificity. Our tissues comprise of cells and >1000 ECM proteins. The ECM facilitates cell-matrix and cell-cell communication, and exchange of nutrients and growth factors. The ECM undergoes structural changes with age, leading to accumulation of fragmented, cross-linked ECM proteins and loss of ECM ligands. Alterations to ECM underpin many age-related tissue changes, such as loss of elasticity, poor healing, scarring, abnormal growths and entry into senescence, a hallmark of ageing. Remarkably, ECM is a target of daily changes governed by our ~24h (circadian) time-keeping mechanisms, highlighting ECM as a malleable driver of tissue ageing. However, there is a critical need to understand how ageing alters the ECM of specific organ/tissue systems, how age-associated ECM impacts tissue-specific deterioration and the roles of specific cell sub-types involved.

At the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism, we seek to understand the impact of nutrition and exercise on human physiology and metabolism. The application of this research ranges from prevention of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and understanding how therapeutic interventions improve health across the lifespan, through to the enhancement of training and performance for athletes.

Judith Phillips is Professor of Social and Environmental Gerontology within the Faculty of Social Sciences. Judith held the position of Deputy Principal for Research at Stirling from 2016 to 2024 during which time more than 80% of Stirling's research was assessed as either world leading or internationally recognised and 87% was recognised as having an outstanding or very considerable impact on society. She also oversaw the largest increase in research grant capture in the University's history.

Alongside her DP role during 2020- 2024, Judith was Research Director for the Healthy Ageing Challenge delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) is a unique and rich resource of information on the dynamics of health, social, wellbeing and economic circumstances in the English population aged 50 and older.

ELSA began in 2002 with a nationally-representative sample of 12,099 people aged 50+ and more than 19,000 women and men have taken part since it started. ELSA is an open access resource for researchers and policy analysts, providing high quality data on ageing that can be interrogated from multiple perspectives. 

The study is currently funded by the National Institute on Aging in the USA and by the UK government departments of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Transport, and Work and Pensions (DWP) coordinated by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). Funding has also been received in the past from HM Treasury (HMT), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as well as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

We aim to improve care for people with mental health problems by generating new insights and new evidence-based treatments. Our research covers a broad range of topics spanning common mental health problems (anxiety and depression) to severe mental illness across UK and global healthcare contexts.

The Centre for Ageing and Biographical Studies (CABS) , The Open University, focuses on ageing across the lifecourse with a particular emphasis on later life. Established in 1995, it was a pioneering interdisciplinary centre at a time of great interest in ageing societies and continues to research and debate contemporary issues in ageing of relevance to academics, practitioners, policy makers and to the broader society.

The Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG) is an interdisciplinary research group which brings together researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds who work closely together with national, regional, and local government, voluntary and community organisations, national and international non-governmental organisations, and older people, to promote age-friendly urban environments. The aim is the group is threefold: first, to undertake pioneering, interdisciplinary, and globally reaching research on urban ageing; second, to champion novel methodologies and approaches that actively involve older people as co-investigators, thereby fostering an inclusive, participatory and collaborative research ethos; and third, to actively contribute to the development of evidence-based policy and practice aimed at improving the experience of ageing in cities and reduce social exclusion in later life.

DSDC Wales have an international reputation for interdisciplinary ageing and dementia research. Our work is situated within the global trend for longevity and international policy ambitions for healthy ageing, addressing major societal challenges around living as well as possible with chronic and degenerative health conditions, specialising in dementia research. We work closely with older people, people living with dementia and their carers, together with health and social care professionals to ensure our research will make a difference, improve the quality of care and inform policy and practice development.

The Northamptonshire Dementia Research and Innovation Centre (NDRIC) is based in the Faculty of Health, Education and Society. Underpinning all of NDRIC’s work is a commitment to ensuring the centrality of the ‘voices’ of people with dementia, including those with a younger onset, and carers.

NDRIC works in collaboration with health and social care providers, voluntary organisations, students, and the public to design and develop contemporary and innovative approaches to the provision of person-centred community-based care and support for people living with dementia and their carers. We are a research and innovation hub focusing on early diagnosis, community-based post diagnostic interventions, and social support for people with dementia and carers.

CADA exists to drive system change for under-represented and under-served older creatives and communities. We use radical approaches that celebrate our ageing. As a national creative charity, we work with academic partners to explore novel projects and dynamic partnerships that challenge the narrative on ageing through the lens of intersectionality.

With the world’s population set to rise to nine billion by 2050, we face huge challenges in providing enough nutritious food for everyone, using methods that are environmentally sustainable. At the same time, as the population ages, more people will experience non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, dementia and cancer. Our world-leading research in Agriculture, Food and Health is addressing these challenges.

From basic research discovering the causes of disease, through to evaluating novel ways of delivering care to the most vulnerable people in society, the Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research (PIHR) is a thriving community that conducts adventurous world-leading research with the explicit purpose of improving the health and care of the populations we serve. At the heart of PIHR’s mission is a desire to solve the problems that really matter to people.

Our mission is to promote an interdisciplinary, inclusive enterprise with a real commitment to working across boundaries in order to meet the needs of the people of the South West and other rural, coastal, and deprived communities worldwide.