Uncover the aging process to promote healthy aging
With every hour, minute, and second we age. Aging thus affects everyone and presents society with major challenges as aging involves an increased disease burden. For society, the expected burden on the domestic economy for rising healthcare costs associated with aging is immense. The CECAD Cluster of Excellence at the University of Cologne investigates the causes that both underlie aging and trigger a wide range of age-associated diseases.
Our mission is to provide fundamental knowledge of the biology af aging and aging-associated diseases.
CECAD's work includes elucidating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of aging in order to define new approaches for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of age-associated diseases inluding metabolic diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal failure, cancer and neuro- and other degenerative disorders.
CECAD was established in 2007 through the DFG-organized Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state government, carried by strong and highly supportive partners: the University of Cologne (UoC) and its University Hospital, the Max Planck Institutes (MPI) for Biology of Ageing and for Metabolism Research, and the Helmholtz’ German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE).
Through new professorships, the Graduate School for Aging Research (CGA), career & diversity programs, and state-of-the-art facilities, CECAD established a highly interactive and multidisciplinary research hub in the heart of Europe that attracts scientists from across the world and that is focused on aging and aging-associated diseases. The close vicinity of one of the leading teaching hospitals and implementation of new translational structures also empower CECAD to explore how its new discoveries will benefit humans and promote healthy aging.