Manchester bags £3 million to research ageing
28 Jul 2011
Two research projects at The University of Manchester have scooped almost £3 million from a major initiative to tackle the major challenges faced in later years.
Teams led by Professor James Nazroo, School of Social Sciences, and Professor Brian Derby, School of Materials, received a quarter of the research funding of the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing initiative.
The £2.83 million award is part of the £11.5 million cross research council programme co-ordinated by the Medical Research Council (MRC).
Drawing on expertise from across the university, the teams will carry out innovative multidisciplinary research to address determinants that influence health and wellbeing in later life.
With a £1.8 million grant Professor Nazroo will target inequalities in later life frailty and wellbeing, bringing together leading academics from biological, clinical and social sciences.
“We are delighted to have been awarded this grant, which will help us understand ageing from a variety of perspectives and, importantly, the drivers of inequality in later life”, said Professor Nazroo.
The awards build on efforts by Professor Nazroo and others to establish Manchester as an interdisciplinary centre for ageing through the Manchester Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Research on Ageing (MICRA).
Professor Nazroo added: “The success of these two grants reflects the quality of the research on ageing that is being conducted at the University and the University’s commitment to addressing this vitally important topic.”
Professor Brian Derby said: ‘We are excited by the opportunity the MRC award has opened for collaboration between Materials Scientists, Life Scientists and Clinicians based in Manchester.
“By developing new techniques for the characterisation of the elasticity and stiffness of ageing tissue we hope to develop a better understanding of the physical processes of ageing and how they impact on the well being of an ageing population."