Annual Report 2015 Key Persons in CEHA
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Center for Healthy Aging Annual Report 2015 Key persons in CEHA Professor Assoc. Professor Professor Professor Professor Professor Lene Juel Rasmussen Astrid Jespersen Karsten Vrangbæk Erik Lykke Mortensen Rudi Westendorp Martin Lauritzen Managing Director, Theme I Theme I Theme II Theme II Theme II Theme III Professor Assoc. Professor Professor Professor Professor Head of Ian D. Hickson Hocine Mankouri Michael Kjær Vilhelm Bohr Thomas Söderqvist Administration Theme III Theme III Theme III Theme III Communication and Tina Gottlieb outreach Center for Healthy Aging is supported by the Danish foundation Nordea-fonden 4 New interrelationships 7 Research, communication and outreach 7 Theme I: Community innovation for healthy aging 13 Theme II: Life course aging processes: Lifespan exposures and healthy aging 21 Theme III: Energy balance in humans: What are the mechanisms underlying reduced energy? 27 Intervention studies and cross-theme projects 35 Communication and outreach platform 39 International recruitment 45 Staff list 51 Internationalization and networking 53 IARU – International research cooperation 54 iHAN – International Healthy Aging Network 55 The IARU Project: Walkability – mobility and social relations among the elderly 55 IARU – CEHA summer course 56 Other international networking 59 Selected educational activities 61 Selected PhD dissertations 62 PhD courses 62 Post graduate level 62 Master level 62 Pre graduate level 63 Other dissemination activities 65 Major grant and prize in 2015 66 Major grant 66 Prize 69 Internal communication and selected joint activities 70 Selected joint activities 75 Selected communication and outreach activities 77 Research outcomes – working with stakeholders 81 Communicating to the wider public 82 Innovative outreach concepts for the general public 86 CEHA’s event wheel – an overview 89 Management 91 CEHA Steering Committee 92 International Scientific Advisory Board 92 Internal Advisory Committee 92 CEHA Administration Annual Report 2015 · 3 New interrelationships Never before have human beings lived as long as they do The Center for Healthy Aging (CEHA) at the University now. But, the quality of a life is not only measured in its of Copenhagen is positioned at the heart of the national length. True quality of life means maintaining high vital- and international agenda for aging research. CEHA ity and a feeling of energy at all life stages: this is what has chosen to focus on cause/effect relationships that we now mean when we say the “Good Life.” This is the influence human health at the individual and population raison d’etre for aging research: it informs us about de- levels. terminants of our life span (how we can live longer) and about how to make living longer worthwhile. Themed, interdisciplinary research Aging research also plays an important role at the CEHA research falls into three themes, from the cellular societal level. This is especially important as popula- level to the societal level, and is seeking solutions to criti- tion aging occurs, as the average age of the population cal unsolved problems in aging research. These include: increases and working age individuals are called on to support for an increasing number of elderly individu- 1. Health-promoting innovations, in which we inves- als. In short, population aging has very large impact tigate the significance of the local community and on socio-economics. In the face of population aging, options for promoting the health and energy of the workforce productivity is likely to decline while the elderly in the last part of their lives. We also focus burden on the healthcare sector and health care costs on how historical and social change influences both increase dramatically. The overall health of the popula- interpersonal and intergenerational relationships. tion could decline, because elderly individuals suffer 2. Aging processes throughout the life course, are a field from age-related disease and disability to an extent not in which we investigate the factors that affect aging found in younger individuals. For example, age-related throughout life, people’s motivation for maintaining diseases include cancer as well as neurodegenerative active lifestyles and what happens to muscles and the and cardiovascular diseases. This has major implications brain as we age. for society worldwide, even though population aging 3. Human energy levels are a theme in which we focus varies significantly according to country and geographic on the body’s inability to repair cellular damage and region. Nevertheless, there is increasing interest in aging thus repair damage to cells and hence tissues and research worldwide. organs as we age. 4 · Annual Report 2015 Professor Lene Juel Rasmussen, Managing Director CEHA has been attracting many excellent researchers amongst whom we wish to create appetite for more from across the world, many of whom want to be part knowledge about aging. We want the public to know of our special interdisciplinary working environment. The about our research and then to want to learn more, interdisciplinarity of CEHA is one of its unique and very ultimately helping everyone live longer lives with a higher special characteristics, which will be fostered even more quality of life. One example is the exhibition on “Round in the future by the new and spectacular Maersk Building and about the brains of children and grandparents” in the Panum complex. The Maersk Building is expected which we ran in conjunction with Medical Museion. This to be completed in 2016, and will serve as a dynamic exhibit gave young and elderly alike an opportunity to physical, social and intellectual resource, that will bring investigate and learn about the aging brain. CEHA personnel together and push our interdisciplinary CEHA researchers feel that it is important to actively research to a new level. Working under the same roof, disseminate the results of our research to the non-scien- we expect to be inspired and be open to new collabora- tific community. Whilst we investigate, the public has the tions and ideas. Here is to a great 2016 for CEHA! opportunity to put our results into practice. Therefore, the views and experience of members of the public are An international leader in aging research extremely important to us. This is why we make a large In recent years, CEHA has assumed a leading position in effort to engage the public, as well as healthcare profes- the international aging research community. CEHA par- sionals and political decision-makers in a dialogue about ticipates in many unique collaborations, including: IARU their needs, their experience and how we can interface (an international collaboration between some of the top with all stakeholders in human health. universities worldwide), MARRIAGE (an EU-funded col- In 2015, we feel that we lived up to many of our laboration with eight European aging research institutes), goals, and that many Danes are aware today that CEHA and ABRAHAM (a transatlantic research collaboration is an important source of knowledge about healthy ag- between Europe, USA and Canada). CEHA is part of the ing in Denmark. international elite in aging research and we are constant- ly seeking new international collaborations. CEHA is communicating in new ways about our research to the world, reaching out to the general public Professor Lene Juel Rasmussen, Managing Director Annual Report 2015 · 5 6 · Annual Report 2015 Theme I Community innovation for healthy aging Theme I Community innovation for healthy aging Group leaders psycho-social, organizational and technological dynamics Astrid Jespersen, Assoc. Professor and social energies during daily life within these com- Karsten Vrangbæk, Professor munities. The goal is to achieve an understanding of the Maria Kristiansen, Assoc. Professor reality of healthy aging and to understand how healthy Bjarke Oxlund, Assoc. Professor aging is promoted among aging citizens. Susan Whyte, Professor We organized three seminars (two in 2015) with practitioners and managers from the partner municipali- Theme I is focused on community participation and ties focusing on jointly-selected topics, such as inequality, local practices as the foundation for healthy aging. We loneliness and interaction with civil society organizations. examine how local settings and practices, as well as socio-economic position affects processes and practices Background and hypothesis related to aging. Theme I researchers work in many The research in Theme I is guided by four questions: disciplines, from ethnology and anthropology to public What processes contribute to changing cultural ideas health, and work closely together on a range of research about health and energy over the life course within topics. In other words, Theme I aims to understand how socially contrasting communities? In what ways does his- the heterogeneity of local communities influences the torical change affect social relations between and within promotion of health and energy of aging citizens. generations in a specific society? How do different The research in Theme I is based on the close collabo- actors/players with diverse initiatives for healthy aging rations between CEHA and four Danish municipalities: interact within a municipality? With regard to healthy Ishøj, Copenhagen, Vordingborg and Gentofte. These aging, how can relations between local stakeholders be municipalities represent different organizational and reconfigured at the community level to promote energy institutional conditions and populations that