Aging, longevity and health

The IARU Congress on Aging, Longevity and Health, held on 5–7 October 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark, was hosted by Rector Ralf Hemmingsen, University of Copenhagen and Dean Ulla Wewer, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen and was organized by Center for Healthy Aging (CEHA) under the leadership of CEHA Managing Director Lene Juel Rasmussen and Prof. Vilhelm Bohr, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, USA (associated to CEHA). The Congress was attended by approximately 125 researchers interested in and/or conducting research on aging and aging-related topics. The opening Congress Session included speeches by Ralf Hemmingsen, Ulla Wewer, and Lene Juel Rasmussen and Keynote Addresses by four world renowned aging researchers: Povl Riis (The Age Forum), Bernard Jeune (University of Southern Denmark), George Martin (University of Washington, USA) and Jan Vijg (Albert Einstein School of Medicine, USA) as well as a lecture discussing the art-science interface by Thomas Söderqvist (Director, Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen). The topics of the first six Sessions of the Congress were: Neuroscience and DNA damage, Aging and Stress, Life Course, Environmental Factors and Neuroscience, Muscle and Life Span and Life Span and Mechanisms. Two additional Sessions highlighted ongoing research in the recently established Center for Healthy Aging at the University of Copenhagen. This report highlights outcomes of recent research on aging-related topics, as described at the IARU Congress on Aging, Longevity and Health.