Fully Funded PhD: Developing our understanding of active and healthy ageing using biological assessments

Ageing is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that involves a gradual decline of physiological systems and cellular processes. It is usually quantified as a measurement of the time elapsed since birth (i.e. chronological age). However, this simple count cannot explain the large variations in the ageing trajectories that exist between older people of similar age. For these reasons, researchers have tried to identify alternative descriptions of ageing based on assessments that reflect the ‘biological age’ of an individual. This was linked to the interactions of genes, environment and lifestyle choices.

The research planned within this PhD project aims to address this question of how biological age can be measured and used as a biomarker to improve the ageing process. We will develop metrics to accurately predict biological age with the longer-term goal of making the validated assessments available across very large populations of people for promoting healthy ageing. This will have an enormous impact on our society by raising the quality of life of older people living in our communities.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The project is split into three phases which include:

1. Comprehensive biomarker identification: this involves conducting a systematic review of existing literature, examining various biomarkers that have been used to assess biological age. 
2. Physiological and functional assessments of human adults: this phase of the project will establish a unique dataset by recruiting human volunteers to complete assessments in our research facilities. We will utilise advanced technology to determine mechanisms of ageing and their candidacy as biomarkers of biological age.
3. Validation of short-form assessments: advancing from the gold-standard comprehensive studies (phase two, above), the third phase of the project will validate a short-form of the assessments.