MyAge Roadmap
‘Muscle resilience across the life course: from cells to society. A roadmap for transformative research in healthy ageing‘ was published on the 21 November 2023 at a network meeting at the Wellcome Collection in London. doi:10.5258/SOTON/P1128
The roadmap is accompanied by supporting documents: a public outreach version of the roadmap, ‘MyAge: Muscle resilience across the life course‘, doi:10.5258/SOTON/P1127, and a value proposition for industry, doi:10.5258/SOTON/P1130.
MyAge policy brief
MyAge’s policy brief A lifelong approach to muscle resilience: implications for policy and practice’ was published in July 2023. It was developed as an output from a network wide policy workshop in January 2023 and launched as part of Sense About Science’s Evidence Week in parliament.
Early career researcher secondments
January 2023
The aim of the call was to provide support for early career researchers, technicians, or PhD students to undertake discipline- or sector-hopping, or training opportunities in muscle resilience within the UK.
Two early career researchers were supported to carry out training and secondments. The researchers are Dr Luke Baker from the University of Leicester and Padraig Spillane from Northumbria University.
MyAge proof-of-concept projects
October 2022
The aim of the funding call was to stimulate novel interdisciplinary research activity in muscle resilience across the lifecourse.
Four interdisciplinary projects were funded by MyAge, most of which were led by early career researchers, who are highlighted with an asterisk (*).
They were awarded to:
1.Dr Colleen Deane* (Southampton) and Dr Owen Rackham (Southampton, Alan Turing Institute): Identifying transcription factors to restore the regenerative potential of ageing skeletal muscle.
2.Dr Mark Burton* (Southampton), Professor Karen Lillycrop (Southampton), Dr Nidia Rodriguez-Sanchez* (Stirling), Dr Lewis Macgregor* (Stirling), Dr Iain Gallagher (Edinburgh Napier), Dr José Areta* (Liverpool John Moores), Dr Harnish Patel (University Hospital Southampton) and Professor Keith Godfrey (Southampton): Identifying the molecular pathways to greater muscle quality in older adults: impacts of age and physical health status.
3.Dr Jessica Piasecki*(Nottingham Trent), Dr Paul Ansdell*(Northumbria), Dr Daniele Magistro*(Nottingham Trent): The implications of the menopausal transition on neuromuscular function.
4.Prof Simon Jones, Dr Susanne Wijesinghe*, Dr Thomas Nicholson*, Joshua Price*, Hussein Farah*, Dr Michael Sagmeister*, all at the University of Birmingham: The role of adipose-derived extracellular vesicles in mediating the obesity associated decline in musculoskeletal health with ageing.
MyAge collaboration initiation projects, Summer 2022
In June 2022, MyAge hosted a UK-wide workshop for researchers where participants were offered the opportunity to get together in small groups crossing university and discipline boundaries to apply for short grants of up to £750 to help develop future collaborative funding proposals.
Nine grants were awarded and delivered over a three month period to early career researchers. The teams were required to report on how the money was spent and what they achieved.
Here is a selection of the projects
1. Dr Colleen Deane*, University of Southampton and Dr Sarah Snelling* University of Oxford: Delivering a single-cell atlas of human skeletal muscle in youth and older age
2.Dr Jamie Pethick*, University of Essex, and Dr Ryan Williams*, Nottingham Trent University: Comparison of force control (magnitude- and complexity-based measures) between adolescents and adults
3. Dr Mark Burton*, University of Southampton, Dr Lewis Macgregor*, University of Stirling, Dr Nidia Rodriguez-Sanchez*, Prof Karen Lillycrop and Prof Keith Godfrey: ‘Identifying the molecular pathways to greater muscle quality in older adults: impacts of lifestyle, socio-economic status, nutrition, and exercise’
4.Dr Sophie Allen* and Prof Leigh Breen University of Birmingham, Dr Mark Turner*, University of Coventry and Dr Bradley Elliott, University of Westminster: Bridging the gap between in vitro and in vivo muscle physiology experiments
5. Dr Jack Ashby*, Nottingham Trent University and Dr Oliver Witard* Kings College London: The validity and reliability of three-dimensional scanning to examine limb volume and cross-sectional area
6. Dr Paul Morgan*, Manchester Metropolitan University, Dr Kelly Bowden-Davies*, Manchester Metropolitan University, Dr Oliver Witard*, King’s College London, Dr Edward Chambers, Imperial College London, Dr Niharika Duggal*, University of Birmingham, Dr Sophie Allen*, University of Birmingham, Dr Alex Wadley, University of Birmingham, Dr Nic West, Griffith University, AU, Prof Christopher van der Gast, Manchester Metropolitan University (now at Northumbria University), Prof Craig Sale, Dr Sophie Joanisse*, Dr Nathan Hodson*, Manchester Metropolitan University: Studying the gut-muscle axis: the contribution of the gut microbiome to skeletal muscle anabolic resistance – MyAge (ukanet.org.uk)
7. Dr José Areta*, Liverpool John Moores University, Haesoo Bae*, Balakrishnan Shanmuganathan*, Dr Kambiz Alavian, Imperial College London: Effect of energy deficit in humans on skeletal muscle mitochondrial efficiency.
8. Dr Paul Muckelt*, University of Southampton and Dr Nidia Rodriguez-Sanchez*, University of Stirling: Exploring physical activity, and hydration awareness, quantities , and motivation ideas in older adults to promote healthy muscle ageing.
9. Dr Thomas Di Virgilio*, University of Stirling, Helen Hobbs and Amy Dennis-Jones (Hobbs Rehabilitation): Exploring non-invasive brain stimulation in neuromuscular recovery post-stroke.
