Την Τετάρτη 7 Δεκεμβρίου 2022 και ώρα 19.00 θα μεταδοθεί ζωντανά η συνεδρία υποδοχής του κ. Peter John Barnes, Καθηγητή Πνευμονολογίας στο Imperial College του Λονδίνου, ως Ξένου Εταίρου της Ακαδημίας Αθηνών.
Κατά τη διεξαγωγή της τελετής υποδοχής, ο Ακαδημαϊκός κ. Χαράλαμπος Ρούσσος θα παρουσιάσει τον Καθηγητή κ. Peter John Barnes, ο οποίος ακολούθως θα εκφωνήσει ομιλία με θέμα “Can we reverse age-related diseases to prolong healthy life?”.
Ακολουθεί σύντομη περίληψη της ομιλίας και επισυνάπτεται το βιογραφικό σημείωμα του ομιλητή.
Abstract:
Humans have long searched for the elusive elixir of life. Accelerated ageing is now recognised as a key mechanism of many age-related diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), now the third ranked cause of death in the world. I will use COPD to illustrate how understanding premature ageing may lead to new treatments that may even reverse the ageing process and prolong healthspan. Many elderly people suffer from several age-related diseases (multimorbidity of the elderly), which is a major drain on healthcare costs. This is because there are common molecular pathways involved in age-related diseases, leading to the accumulation of senescent cells, which are sometimes described as “zombie” cells. Senescence spreads from cell to cell, resulting in disease progression but also spreads through the circulation to other organs accounting for multimorbidity. We have shown that small vesicles released from senescent cells can induce senescence in normal cells. Novel drugs that selectively kill senescent cells (senolytic therapies) can reverse age-related disease in animals and clinical trials are now beginning, with the hope of reducing progression and potentially reversing age-related diseases.
