1st Conference of the European Federation for Aging Research (EFAR)
On the Biology of Aging
The newly founded European Federation for Aging Research (EFAR). Together with the German (DGfA), Dutch (DUSRA), Nordic (Nordic Aging), and British (BSRA) societies for aging research, we founded EFAR that aims to connect the community of aging researchers across Europe. Additional aging societies from countries across Europe are about to join as well. Our aim is to form a structure for scientific exchange, supporting young scientists entering the field, promote aging research and advance policy towards strengthening this area of research. We are open to members in the field of aging research from all European countries and would be delighted to have all members of the founding societies on board.
When & Where:
Date: 14th - 16th October 2026
Venue: MPI for Biology of Ageing & CECAD Research Center, Cologne, Germany
Organisatory Guidelines
Poster:
Please bring a printed version of your poster to the conference.
Poster format: max. 841 × 1189 mm (A0), portrait orientation only.
You will receive necessary materials for attaching your poster to the
designated presentation walls at the registration desk.
The Poster session takes place in the CECAD building.
Posters have to be mounted by Wednesday, 14.10.2026, from 12:00 to 16:15 at the latest.
Posters have to be demounted by Thursday, 15.10.2026, until 15:00 at the latest
A detailed floor plan will be provided on the website and is also available at the registration desk during the conference.
Talk:
Time slots scheduled for different talks:
Selected by abstract: 10 minutes presentation and 5 minutes discussion
Invited speakers: 20 min presentation plus 5 minutes discussion
We kindly ask you not to extend your presentation time due to the tight schedule
Public Transport tickets:
Public transport ticket (if ordered during the registration) will be provided at the registration desk. They are for free.
Registration
You can now register for the event in our Registration Tool:
https://uni-koeln.converia.de/frontend/index.php?sub=98
Registration is possible until August 10, 2026.
Conference fees are for:
- EFAR Member 160 €
- Non-EFAR Members 180 €
- PhD / Postdocs 170 €
Registration is mandatory.
Hotel Booking
Click on this link to find hotel recommendations via the booking tool by Kuoni Tumlare:
Program
Wednesday, October 14th
| from 11:00 | Registration | ||
| 12:30 - 13:00 | Welcome | ||
| SESSION I | |||
| 13:00 - 13:25 | Invited Speaker | Nathan LeBrasseu, Mayo Clinic Rochester, USA | Cellular Senescence and Skeletal Muscle Aging |
| 13:25-13:40 | Toluwanimi Victory Afolayan, Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany | In vivo functional characterisation of a rare protein-altering variant in DEPTOR identified in long-lived families | |
| 13:40-13:55 | Arturo Bujarrabal-Dueso, CECAD, Cologne, Germany | A Novel H2A.Z-Dependent Mechanism Underlies DREAM Complex Regulation of the DNA Damage Response | |
| 13:55-14:10 | David H. Meyer, CECAD, Cologne, Germany | Aging clocks delineate neuron types vulnerable or resilient to neurodegeneration and identify neuroprotective interventions | |
| 14:10-14:25 | Haoqun Zhan, University of Cambridge, UK | Nuclear integrity underpins the dynamic range of inflammation regulation | |
| 14:25-14:40 | Aleksandr Dekan, University of Copenhagen, Denmark | Genomic Determinants of Maximum Lifespan in Vertebrates | |
| 14:40-15:05 | Invited Speaker | Emma Teeling, University College Dublin, Ireland | tba |
| 15:05-15:40 | COFFEE BREAK | ||
| SESSION II | |||
| 15:40-16:05 | Invited Speaker | Uri Alon, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel | tba |
| 16:05-16:20 | Peter de Keizer, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands | PMLhigh, impaired-p53 scarred cells are a therapeutic target for healthy longevity | |
| 16:20-16:35 | Constantinos Demetriades, ERIBA/UMCG, Groningen, The Netherlands | mTOR Ubiquitination in Ageing and Disease | |
| 16:35-16:50 | Joris Demmers, CECAD, Cologne, Germany | Transcription speed is controlled by mTOR via the super elongation complex | |
| 16:50-17:05 | Nikoleta Nikou, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain | Novel Treatments to Mitigate Ovarian Aging and Follicle Loss | |
| 17:05-17:20 | Taiyu Ge, CECAD, Cologne, Germany | Vitamin B12 boosts H3K4me2 deposition to promote transcription recovery following DNA damage | |
| 17:20-17:45 | BREAK | ||
| 17:45-18:10 | Invited Speaker | George Garinis, University of Crete, Greece | DNA damage and Innate Immune responses in Health and Disease |
| 18:10-18:25 | Dax Houtkamp, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Prolonged bed rest reduces PhenoAge despite marked physiological deconditioning | |
| 18:25-18:40 | Shoma Ishikawa, CECAD, Cologne, Germany | Non-cell-autonomous control of stress surveillance by telomere deprotection | |
| 18:40-18:55 | Maria Sol Jacome Burbano, CECAD, Cologne, Germany | A neonatal-like cardiac program underlies adult heart regeneration in the naked mole-rat | |
| 19:15-22:15 | POSTER SESSION |
Thursday, October 15th
| SESSION III | |||
| 9:00-9:25 | Invited Speaker | Elsa Logharino, University of Porto, Portugal | tba |
| 9:25-9:40 | Lucia Lorenzo Rodriguez, CIMUS-USC, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain | Senomorphic effect of genetic and chemical partial reprogramming | |
| 9:40-9:55 | Helene Martini, Mayo Clinic Rochester, USA | Mitochondrial metabolism and epigenetic crosstalk in senescent cells | |
| 9:55-10:10 | Manuel Collado, CIMUS-USC, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain | The Last kiss: Apoptotic Secreted Factors Drive Cellular Senescence | |
| 10:10-10:25 | Julian Mutz, King's College London, UK | Do mental disorders accelerate the pace of ageing? | |
| 10:25-10:50 | Invited Speaker | Laura Niederhofer, University of Minnesota, USA | tba |
| 10:50-11:30 | COFFEE BREAK | ||
| SESSION IV | |||
| 11:30-11:55 | Invited Speaker | Luca Scorrano, University of Padova, Italy | Fis1 Loss Drives Endothelial Senescence via Maladaptive Fatty-Acid Metabolism |
| 11:55-12:10 | Francesco Neri, University of Turin, Italy | Loss of regeneration and epigenetic drift of the intestinal stem cells during aging | |
| 12:10-12:25 | Katharina Papsdorf, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) Mainz, Germany | Lipid droplets in MUFA mediated longevity | |
| 12:25-12:40 | André Rendeiro, CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Vienna, Austria | Histological aging signatures enable inference of tissue-specific disease associations from blood | |
| 12:40-13:05 | Invited Speaker | Sara Hägg, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden | tba |
| 13:05 -14:45 | LUNCH | ||
| SESSION V | |||
| 14:45-15:10 | Invited Speaker | Lumir Krejčí, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic | tba |
| 15:10-15:25 | David Doupe, Durham University, UK | The transcription factor Sob maintains intestinal stem cell homeostasis to delay aging | |
| 15:25-15:40 | Della David, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK | Identification of a novel human extracellular chaperone promoting healthy ageing | |
| 15:40-15:55 | Oliver Tüscher, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany | TACR3 variant confers resilience to aging and Alzheimer's disease | |
| 15:55-16:10 | Dongryeol Ryu, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), South Korea | Discovery of a Circulating Myokine that Improves Systemic Function in Aged Mice | |
| 16:10-16:25 | Markus Schosserer, Medical University of Vienna, Austria | The role of the ribosomal RNA methyltransferase Nsun5 in mouse aging and development | |
| 16:25-16:40 | Payel Sen, National Institute on Aging, USA | A single-cell multi-omic atlas decodes the regulatory logic of liver aging | |
| 16:40-17:05 | Invited Speaker | Woiciech Pokrzywa, International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw, Poland | tba |
| 17:15 – 18:15 | Members assembly | ||
| 19:15-22:30 | Speaker’s dinner (by invitation only) |
Friday, October 16th
| SESSION VI | |||
| 9:00-9:25 | Invited Speaker | Eija Pirinen, University of Oulu, Finland | Obesity-related remodeling of NAD+ metabolism in human adipocytes |
| 9:25-9:40 | Mirre Simons, The University of Sheffield, UK | Suppression rather than activation of the integrated stress response (GCN2–ATF4) pathway extends lifespan in the fly | |
| 9:40-9:55 | Yossawat Suwanlikit, Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA | DNA Methylation-Based Clonal Hematopoiesis Burden Associates with Structural Brain Atrophy | |
| 9:55-10:10 | Vakil Takhaveev, ETH Zürich, Switzerland | The Damage Code – Single-Nucleotide Maps of DNA Lesions Across the Ageing [Epi]Genome | |
| 10:10-10:25 | Danila Voronov, Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena, Germany | Shared molecular signatures between diapause II and aging in killifish Nothobranchuis furzeri suggest aging during diapause II | |
| 10:25-11:15 | COFFEE BREAK | ||
| 11:15-11:40 | Invited Speaker | Guido Kroemer, Université de Paris Cité, France | Immunosuppression by the geroprotein ACBP/DBI |
| 11:40-11:55 | Shibo Wei, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), South Korea | Localized NAD_ Replenishment Restores Metabolic Resilience and Mitigates Cardiac Injury after Myocardial Infarction | |
| 11:55-12:10 | Mauro Corrado, CECAD, Cologne, Germany | Suppression of T Cell–Driven Type I Interferons in Ageing Reveals Gut-Specific Vulnerability | |
| 12:10-12:35 | Invited Speaker | Eline Slagboom, Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands | tba |
| 12:35-13:00 | Concluding remarks, Poster prizes |
Speakers
- George Garinis (Foundation for Research & Technology - Hellas, Heraklion, Crete, GREECE)
- Laura Niederhofer (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA)
- Linda Partridge (University College London, UK)
- Luca Scorrano (Università di Padova, ITALY)
- Uri Alon (Weizmann Institute of Science, ISRAEL)
- Sara Hägg (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm,SWEDEN)
- Lumír Krejčí (Masaryk University, Brno, CZECH)
- Nathan LeBrasseur (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA)
- Elsa Longarinho (University of Porto, PORTUGAL)
- Matthias Mann (University of Copenhagen, DENMARK)
- Eija Pirinen (University of Helsinki, FINLAND)
- Eline Slagboom (Universiteit Leiden, NETHERLANDS)
- Guido Kroemer (Université de Paris Cité, FRANCE)
- Wojciech Pokrzywa (International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, POLAND)
- Emma Teeling (University College Dublin, IRELAND)
Organizing committee
Björn Schumacher (Cologne, chair)
David Vilchez (Cologne)
Anne Schaefer (Cologne)
Morten Scheibye-Knudsen (Denmark)
Lene Rasmussen (Denmark)
Folkert Kuipers (Netherlands)
Joris Deelen (Netherlands)
Riekelt Houtkooper (Netherlands)
David Weinkove (UK)
Hartmut Geiger (Germany)
Helen Morrison (Germany)
Ira Milosevic (Portugal/UK)
European Federation for Aging Reserach
Interested in the European Federation for Aging Reserach?
If you want to become a member of the EFAR, please see: LINK
Venue
Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing
Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9B
50931 Cologne
Download here a map of the University Hospital campus.
(32) Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing
(69) CECAD Research Center
Sponsored by
Sponsoring
We are pleased to offer sponsorship for the EFAR conference, which includes:
- The recognition of your institution through the display of your logo on the event’s website and program materials.
- Your logo will also be featured on a designated sponsor banner prominently displayed at the event.
- As a sponsor, a representative from your institution will also have the opportunity to attend the conference, the evening poster session.
We would be grateful for your support with a minimum sponsorship contribution of €1,000. If you wish to participate in the exclusive speakers' dinner, a minimum sponsorship of €1,250 is kindly requested.
Please be advised that, due to limited space capacity, we are unable to provide exhibition opportunities or accept promotional materials at either of the two conferences. We sincerely look forward to your response and the possibility of welcoming you as a sponsor for these important events. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact us at cecad-media[at]uni-koeln.de.
EFAR Conference: More Than Just a Meeting – Uniting Aging Research Across Europe
Aging research in Europe is highly fragmented. To change this, the European Federation for Aging Research (EFAR) was established. Its goal is to unify research and promote collaboration, to create Europe-wide funding mechanisms, to put research findings into practice and to attract top researchers to geroscience.
Read more about EFAR’s vision and mission in this article in Nature Aging, written by CECAD speaker Björn Schumacher together with the EFAR founding members Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, Lene Juel Rasmussen and Folkert Kuipers.