Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Austria
The Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg was founded by Prince Archbishop Paris Lodron, the namesake of the University, in 1622. With over 18,000 students and 2,800 employees in research, teaching and administration, the PLUS is the largest educational institution in the Salzburg region. As an integral part of its cultural and economic life, the university is the meeting point between teaching and studying, research and the public.
Since its re-establishment in 1962, it has developed into a modern and lively University whose four faculties meet the highest standards in teaching and research. The Faculty of Natural Sciences is the University’s second biggest faculty. Owing to its technical orientation it receives the highest portion of third-party funding at the University. It encompasses eight departments with more than 300 researchers and about 5,000 students. PLUS is now the centre for innovative research and is firmly integrated into the cultural and economic life of Salzburg. With its national and international networking, it is a modern knowledge hub in the heart of Europe and collaborates with numerous international institutions in research and higher education.
Günter Lepperdinger has been appointed full professor of Cell Biology and Genetics at the PLUS from March 2015. He plans to establish a Research Unit studying human biogerontology. In close collaboration with his previous research colleagues at Universitaet Innsbruck (MOPACT partner 24), he will continue studying the aging processes at the cellular and molecular level, yet a future goal of the Research Group on Healthy Longevity Research at PLUS is to implement life-long somatic maintenance strategies to ensure healthy human ageing.
Key personnel involved in the project:
Günter Lepperdinger: Head of the Healthy Longevity Research Group
TBA: M/F Research Assistant
Main tasks attributed to them in the project:
Partner PLUS will participate in WP6 task 1 by supporting to outline the most important achievements in the field and assessing their suitability for translation. PLUS will also support UIBK by organizing task 3 of WP 6 on communication and dissemination. Günter Lepperdinger has been involved in multiple EU-funded projects, as such he has also been associated scientific with strategic projects previously carried out and supported by UIBK such as ERA-AGE I and II and Futurage.
Short profile of all personnel and previous relevant experience:
Günter Lepperdinger has worked as a PI since 1996 in various research institutions such as IMB Salzburg, MPI Martinsried, NIH-Bethesda, and since 2002 he headed the Stem Cell Aging Group at the IBA in Innsbruck. He has been appointed full professor for Cell Biology and Genetics commencing work at PLUS at March 2015. His research group has participated in various joint research projects at a national and international level (e.g. FP7 project VascuBone, Marie Curie Reintegration HyalStemAge). He authored more than 75 publications and served as an Assoc. Editor for Elseviers’ Experimental Gerontology from 2002-2007, presently acts as Editor for Karger’s Gerontology.
The research assistant to be recruited shall have a basic training in biomedical research and/or knowledge in public health. She/he will be responsible for compiling the contemporary knowledge in the field of biogerontology to validate the most suitable measures and strategies for translation, in particular regarding potentially efficacious medications, dietary regimens including functional food, matched physical exercise programs as well as technical advancements to promote a healthy lifestyle. She/he will be also actively engaged in communicating and disseminating these achievements to the common public.