Biology of Aging

Course Description

The MBL Biology of Aging Advanced Research Training Summer Course is an immersive research-based course designed to teach fundamental concepts, outstanding open research questions, and cutting-edge experimental approaches at the forefront of modern geroscience. Participants will acquire a deep understanding of current knowledge in the biology of aging through hands-on research projects and complementary lectures and workshops, building up from the changes that occur at the molecular and cellular level to understanding the consequences of those changes at the organismal level. Course faculty with diverse expertise will cover a wide range of topics including definitions and evolutionary theories of aging; biochemical and cellular processes that influence aging; the genetic basis of aging and longevity; biological clocks and healthspan; systemic aging; experimental model systems used to study aging; physiology of human aging; age-related pathology and disease; and possibilities for aging interventions.  

Biology of Aging Course will include consecutive two-week sections: Molecular, Cellular, and Genetic Mechanisms of Aging and Geroscience Interventions & Healthspan. Trainees will design research questions together with course faculty and spend a majority of their time performing hands-on experiments through which they will learn rigorous and creative experimental design, specialized experimental techniques, troubleshooting strategies, and sophisticated data analysis methods. In parallel they will build professional skills by communicating science through formal and informal research presentations and build an international network of colleagues and mentors through daily interactions with leading scientists and peers.