Institute of Ageing and Health: A Newcastle Suprise

I travelled to Newcastle yesterday to meet Professor Kirkwood, who runs the Institute of Ageing and Health at Newcastle University.  He explained that it has become the biggest research centre for age related issues in Europe:  Below the meeting room where we sat were over 1000 deep-frozen brains in the Brain Bank, and in the various buildings around the Campus for Ageing and Vitality, a huge range of interdisciplinary research was being carried out, some of unprecedented scale, such as the 85+ Project, for which 75% of the population of Newcastle aged 85 in 2007 is being assessed in incredible detail in an attempt to gain data about a poorly understood, but rapidly growing part of the population.  Prof. Kirkwood explained that the average life expectancy for people in the UK is increasing by 5 hours every day, and that globally it is increasing even faster.  In his opinion, the Aging of the world's population poses a problem of equal, if not greater magnitude to that of Global Warming.  

He expressed a great interest in my project and hopefully will be able to help open some doors for my research as well as joining forces with Northern Lights to create a special event for the festival in March.