200 delegates from across the ageing research field came together at Manchester Metropolitan University for 3 days in September for the BSRA’s 74th Annual Scientific Meeting. Coordinated by local organiser, BSRA Trustee Paul Morgan, this year’s ASM included renowned international keynote speakers, researchers from almost 20 UK institutions, talented early-career researchers and over 60 poster presenters.
It was made possible through generous financial support from BBSRC, Altos Labs, Pharma Nord, Abbvie, Calibre Scientific, HTC Health, NADMED, Nagi Bioscience, Magnitude Biosciences, StudySetGo, Geneflow, CliniSciences, Oxford Immune Algorithmics and the Babraham Institute, without whom the following highlights simply couldn’t have happened:
A great conference has great keynote speakers, and the ASM 2025 delivered!
Gordon Lithgow of Buck Institute for Research on Aging set the tone, discussing the interplay between exposome, genetics, and ageing. Dr Benjamin Miller, AMERICAN AGING ASSOCIATION‘s former Chair & Professor at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation spoke about Metformin/exercise interactions data from in vivo and human studies. Peter Stenvinkel of the Karolinska Institutet delivered a tour de force through exposome and ageing, covering giraffes, naked mole rats, deep sea fish, bats, seals, hibernating bears, and even humans. Rozalyn Anderson from the University of Wisconsin delivered the final keynote with a hugely entertaining talk about caloric restriction research.
Our keynotes were supported by engaging and wide-ranging talks from established and early career researchers (ECRs) across the ageing research field. Some of the ECRs w
ere eligible for our prestigious Korenchevsky Prize. Awarded to the best oral presentation, it includes a trip to the next AMERICAN AGING ASSOCIATION annual scientific meeting and an oral presentation slot there, allowing the BSRA to platform the science from future leaders in our field to the widest audience possible. Congratulations to Loren Kell of University of Oxford whose superb presentation was voted most highly by the judging panel of BSRA Trustees.
Congratulations too to the winners of the poster presentations:
1st Place – Payal Ganguly (PhD) of University of Leeds
2nd Place – Jordan Acheson of The Manchester Metropolitan University
3rd Place – Marie Korzepa of University of Birmingham
Equally important to the BSRA’s Vision for 2025 is to engage more widely and strategically around ageing research, its translation, value and potential impact.
Representatives from Vivensa Foundation, Magnitude Biosciences Ltd, and Oxford Immune Algorithmics led a workshop on the subject of Pitching and Commercialisation of Research, at the end of which Early Career Researchers were invited to submit their pitch, with the winners given the opportunity to work up their proposal and pitch it to investors at next year’s ASM.
The programme included two thought-provoking panel discussions on ‘Industry Insights into Emerging Nutraceuticals’, and ‘Ageing Research in the Public Eye.’ This second panel provoked lively debate from our panellists drawn from the media, communications, the charity sector and academia, Elizabeth Mills OBE DSc(Hon), Bradley Elliott, Dr David Cox, and Dominic Nutt.
Our final session of #BSRA2025 involved a joint symposium from disease-specific medical research charities. Featuring Lucy Donaldson from Arthritis UK, Anbalakan Paramasivam from Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and Freddie Frost representing Cystic Fibrosis Trust, this was a real call to arms for the BSRA membership on how we can work together to prevent disease and understand ageing-disease interactions.One striking statistic from Freddie Frost on cystic fibrosis (CF) was the year of the BSRA’s first meeting, 74 years ago, a CF patient could expect to live to the age of 6. For a child born today with CF, life expectancy is 65. For the first time in history, we have interactions between ageing processes and diseases like CF. That’s why BSRA is partnering with disease specific charities to help understand and improve ageing and lifelong health for all.
The many discussions provoked by this range of speakers, panellists and talks spilled into refreshment breaks, meals – and a memorable Society Dinner with speeches, prizes and a toast from Gordon Lithgow. We are grateful to everyone who attended and supported this event – and we look forward to picking up the conversation at our 75th Annual Scientific Meeting in Oxford 2026. See you there!