On Tuesday 21 November, MyAge published a roadmap to help shape the future of muscle resilience research. The MyAge Roadmap, which is the main deliverable from the network, outlines the key questions and strategies for future research into muscle resilience, and makes recommendations for funders, policy makers and the research community. Over the past 22 months, more than 120 network members have told us the most important questions in the field, via a membership survey. We have also incorporated people’s views from discussions at several network events, feedback from colleagues and from our public contributors.
To mark the occasion, MyAge hosted a networking event at the Wellcome Collection in London, to discuss the roadmap and plans for the future with colleagues from research, business, charities, funders and the public. Themes and discussions from the day were captured in artwork by Jonny Glover from More Than Minutes. Speakers included:
- Kambiz Alavian, MyAge Co-Lead, Dept of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London
- Carolyn Greig, MyAge Joint Director, School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham
- Nicholas Harvey, Director, Medical Research Council, Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, University of Southampton
- Andrew Mackenzie, Associate Director of Strategy and External Relations, The Physiological Society
- Annette Pantall, Population and Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University and Axomics
- Judith Phillips OBE, Research Director, UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge, University of Stirling
- Peter JS Smith, MyAge Joint Director, Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton
- Sanjay Thakrar, Head of Research Policy and Awards, The Dunhill Medical Trust
- Sadhana Sharma, Head of Strategy, Bioscience for Health, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Matt Whiteman, Professor of Experimental Therapeutics, University of Exeter and Inventor, Co-Founder & CSO, MitoRx Therapeutics
A lively discussion was chaired by Professor Janet Lord CBE. Two of our public contributors, Ian Clarke and Gillian Richards, joined the panel to debate what we would prioritise in muscle resilience research and practice, if we had £1 billion to spend for the nation.
If you would like to find out more, the MyAge Roadmap can be downloaded from the University of Southampton Eprints repository:
Muscle resilience across the life course: from cells to society. A Roadmap for transformative research in healthy ageing. doi:10.5258/SOTON/P1128
We have produced a public outreach version of the Roadmap for the general reader:
MyAge: Muscle resilience across the life course. doi:10.5258/SOTON/P1127
and a value proposition for the business community:
Muscle resilience across the life course: from cells to society. Value proposition. doi:10.5258/SOTON/P1130 .
These reports join the MyAge policy brief, which was published earlier in 2023.
The MyAge Roadmap and accompanying versions for policy makers, industry and the public.
MyAge Joint Director, Professor Carolyn Greig said, “The UK has a strong basic science understanding of muscle ageing processes, internationally well-established fields of research, and a deep understanding of the key role of healthy muscle ageing, for living well, for longer. We are well placed to transform muscle resilience research across the life course.”
Gillian Richards added, “As a public contributing member, I have worked hard to help MyAge build on real life experience like mine and ensure the network’s focus makes sense for non-scientists. It has been wonderful to see the diversity of experience and background present st the Roadmap launch today. It’s great that MyAge has listened to us and shared the results along the way.”
Dr Kambiz Alavian said, “This is a very exciting time to be doing ageing research. We have many fantastic opportunities to make a difference in later life. We’re ambitiously building capacity in the UK and abroad.”
MyAge Roadmap summary, by Jonny Glover from More Than Minutes.
Discussions from the MyAge Roadmap Launch event, captured by Jonny Glover.