supervised by prof. carolyn byrne). the edmund de rothschild senior fellow in ageing research (second awarded). research interests: ageing and wound healing. currently leading a clinical trial for a treatment to promote healing in older people. professor lorna harries (1970–). elected to executive committee (2014). born cosford, shropshire and grew up in albrighton, shropshire. educated at idsall comprehensive school, shifnal (o’ level studies; 1981 – 1896) and wolverhampton grammar school (a-level studies; 1986 – 1988). university college london 1988 – 1994 (bsc genetics, 1st class hons. phd genetics "mapping studies of mouse chromosome two"). member diabetes uk (2001 –). fellow of the higher education academy (2010 -). team member queens award for excellence in higher education (2006). team member hospital doctor academic team of the year (2006). awarded diabetes uk rd lawrence prize lectureship 2011. associate professor in molecular genetics, university of exeter medical school and pi rna-mediated disease mechanisms group. research interests include –omics approaches to epigenetic, transcriptional and non-coding rna control of gene expression in relation to ageing and age-related disease. dr sian mari henson (1975–) elected to membership of the society (2002), executive committee member (2004), honorary secretary (2006–2009). born buckinghamshire, united kingdom, grew up in windsor, berkshire. educated at st. bernard’s convent school, slough, southampton university (b.sc. biochemistry and pharmacology), imperial college of science and technology (ph.d. acetylcholine receptor expression in gut-associated lymphoid tissues in response to infection with n. brasiliensis) senior research fellow at university college london. research interests: metabolic regulation of immune cells during senescence and the impact of senescent t cells on human health. professor malcolm jackson professor janet mary lord (1957–) elected to membership of the society (1999), executive committee member (2001-2008), chairman (2002–2005), cohen medallist (2013). born halifax, united kingdom, grew up in bradford, west yorkshire. educated at st margaret clitheroe girls grammar school, bradford, oxford brookes university (b.sc. human biology), university of aston (phd the effect of oral hypoglycaemic drugs and obesity on insulin receptor binding). professor of immune cell biology and head of the school of immunity and infection at the university of birmingham. director of the mrc-arthritis research uk centre for musculoskeletal ageing research. research interests: ageing of the immune system, the interaction between stress and immunity in older adults, the role of inflammation in driving musculoskeletal decline with age. member mrc lifelong health and wellbeing strategy panel and co-editor in chief of the journal longevity and healthspan.), paul f glenn award for research in biological mechanisms of ageing (2013). elizabeth mills obe, dsc (1951–) elected to membership of the society (1995) lord cohen medallist (2000), honorary life member (2011). born alton, hampshire and grew up in and around farnham, surrey. educated at farnham girls grammar school (service to school prize), langham secretarial college, london. former managing director of medical supplies company, archer medical (now anchor medical). appointed administrator of british foundation for age research (1984). director of research into ageing (1990). led merger with help the aged (2001). management committee of mrc agenet initiative; steering committee of bbsrc sage initiative; epsrc equal programme; board member of the esrc, research programme; executive committee of the association of medical research charities; trustee of age concern england.; freeman of the city of london and liveryman of the worshipful company of grocers. obe for services to ageing research (2002), honorary degree of doctor of science in recognition of major contributions to ageing research and leadership in the voluntary sector, university of brighton (2013). patron home renaissance foundation www.homerenaissancefoundation.org . established independent consultancy eminence grise (2001) which provides comprehensive consultancy services to organisations with a special interest in ageing issues. professor julie mcleod. elected to membership of society (2002), honorary treasurer (2003–2007). born aldershot, uk and grew up as part of a royal air force family; usa, kuwait, germany and italy. educated at st bernard’s rc school, high wycombe, queens school, raf rheindahlen (a levels), ucl (bsc (hons) pharmacology), and university of london (phd). professor of immunology and pro-vice-chancellor at university of the west of england, bristol, uk. research interests: biomarkers for alzheimer’s disease, functionality of ageing t cells, and in vitro models. dr elizabeth lara ostler cchem frsc (1970–) elected to membership of the society (2000), executive committee member (2007, 2017) annual scientific meeting local organiser (2008, 2011). born hexham, united kingdom, grew up in northumberland. educated at croft house school, hexham and the mount school, york (competition scholar, deputy head of house), university of bristol (bsc(hons) chemistry, phd chemistry synthesis and reactions of tetrahydroquinolizinium and dihydroindolizinium salts). research interests: small molecule "antidegeneratives" including resveratrol analogues (‘resveralogues’) with a particular focus on preventing or ameliorating the effects of cellular senescence. drosophila melanogaster as a tool for the chemical analysis of ageing. academic board representative, university of brighton board of governors (2008–12). professor dame linda partridge dbe, frs, frse, fmedsci (1950–) elected to membership of the society (19), cohen medallist (2004), dbe (2009), honorary member (2011). born bath, united kingdom. education, convent of the sacred heart school, tunbridge wells and st anne's college, oxford (ba zoology, dphil). seminal contributions to gerontology include her research into the evolution of ageing, dietary restriction and the biology of extended lifespan mutants. named one of six women of outstanding achievement in science, engineering and technology (2009), awarded foreign honorary membership of the american academy of arts and sciences (2010). honorary degrees (dsc) from the universities of st. andrews, bath, oxford, and brighton. other awards and honours include the foundation ipsen longevity prize (2004), living legend, help the aged (2006) and the royal society croonian prize lecture (2009) weldon professor and director of institute of healthy ageing, university college london and founding director of the max planck institute for the biology of ageing, cologne, germany. dr suresh inder singh rattan (1955–) cohen medallist (2011). born in amritsar, india. educated guru nanak dev university (gndu), amritsar (bsc), jawaharlal nehru university (jnu), new delhi, india (m.sc.), national institute for medical research, united kingdom (phd, 1985), faculty of natural sciences, university of aarhus (dsc, 1995). seminal contribution to gerontology is the theory of hormesis and the concept of virtual gerontogenes. founding editor-in-chief of biogerontology. author of multiple scientific works and of the children’s book where's baba gone? professor arlen richardson, cohen medallist (2008), honorary member (2011) dr m. jill saffrey (1954–) elected to the society (2000), executive committee member (2011–2017), hon treasurer (2014–2017). born london, united kingdom, grew up in somerset. educated at bishop fox’s girls grammar school, taunton and university college, london (bsc microbiology; phd anatomy & embryology). doctoral thesis on the development of the enteric nervous system in vivo and in vitro. postdoctoral positions at ucl and the university of wisconsin, madison. appointed to the academic staff of the open university (1994). research interest is the ageing of the gastrointestinal system, particularly the enteric nervous system. professor claire elisabeth hamilton stewart (1966–) elected to the bsra executive committee (2014), meetings secretary (2015). born johannesburg, south africa. moved to zug, switzerland aged 9. educated at parktown convent (johannesburg), anglo-american school of zug and the american international school of zurich. one year working in wuppertal, germany, before studying at the university of glasgow (developmental biology, 2.i hons). one year as r&d scientist at amersham international. phd on the role of insulin-like growth factors and muscle hypertrophy (lshtm and babraham institute, cambridge). european patent filed as part of phd work. post-doctoral research fellow at washington university medical school, st louis, mo and the university of bristol. currently professor of stem cell biology at liverpool john moores university. member of the british endocrine society (1989–). executive member of the mercia stem cell alliance (2011–). fellow of the higher education academy (2013–). funding from aicr, nda prep network, sparc, erasmus mundus doctoral training programme, fp7. research interests: regulators of skeletal muscle maintenance in health and disease and across the ages. enabling healthspan. professor sydney shall (1932–) cohen medallist (2006), honorary member (2011). born in xx, south africa? educated university of the witwatersrand (medicine), studied for a master's degree in science under the supervision of sydney brenner. king’s college london (phd). volunteer in the anc defiance campaign against unjust laws (1952) and arrested alongside nelson mandela. seminal contributions to gerontology include the first demonstration that the nuclear enzyme system poly (adp-ribose) polymerase (parp) is involved in the cellular response to dna damage, the invention of novel inhibitors of parp (now used globally) and ground breaking studies in the kinetics of senescence in primary human and rodent fibroblasts. emeritus professor, king's college london. professor raymond tallis, cohen medallist (2007) dr david weinkove (1973–). elected to the society (2005–). executive committee member (2014–). born reading, berkshire, uk. grew up in gravesend, kent, uk. educated at gravesend grammar school, clare college, cambridge university (1994 ba hons natural sciences -biochemistry). phd at university college london mrc-lmcb, ludwig institute for cancer research and department of biochemistry (phd on how the signaling molecule pi-3 kinase regulates growth in drosophila with prof mike waterfield and dr sally leevers 1999). awarded long term human frontiers science program fellowship for postdoctoral research in c. elegans with prof ronald plasterk at the hubrecht institute, utrecht, nl (1999–2001) followed by research with dr nullin divecha (2001–04) at the netherlands cancer institute and prof david gems at university college london (2004–08). awarded short term fellowship from hfsp to work with prof erik jorgensen at university of utah (2004). lecturer at durham university since 2008. research interests include how bacteria influence ageing using the nematode worm caenorhabditis elegans and its interaction with escherichia coli as a model. dr cathy slack (1976- ). executive committee member (2017- ). born in limavady, county londonderry, northern ireland. educated at berkhamsted school for girls (hertfordshire), university of southampton (bsc biological sciences), imperial college london (phd in genetics). postdoctoral research completed with prof. william chia at the mrc centre for developmental neurobiology, king's college london and with dame prof. linda partridge at the institute of healthy ageing, university college london. lecturer in biosciences at aston university since 2016. research interests include how nutrient signalling pathways influence animal ageing using the fruit fly, drosophila melanogaster, as a model system. dr leda mirbahai (1985–). executive committee member of the british society for research on ageing (2016–). born tehran, iran. studied microbiology at university of azad, karaj (bsc, distinction, 2007), toxicology at university of birmingham, uk (msc, distinction, 2008) and phd at university of birmingham, school of biosciences (phd on environmental epigenetics with professor kevin chipman and dr tim williams 2012). worked as post-doctoral research fellow with professor kevin chipman and professor mark viant (2012-2014) and professor john colbourne (2014-2015) at the university of birmingham. worked as an invited short-term visiting fellow with professor karl fent at fhnw, basel, switzerland (2013), and professor peter laird and dr kwangho lee at van andel research institute, mi, usa (2016). awarded birmingham fellow in epigenetics (2015–present) at university of birmingham. research interests include understanding the role of epigenetic factors in regulating ageing rate using the model organism daphnia.