International recognition for an ‘Indian in Aarhus’

The British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) has announced the award of the Lord Cohen Medal to Dr Suresh Rattan at the Department of Molecular Biology, Aarhus University, for his contribution to the science of gerontology. This medal is the highest honour the BSRA can bestow and its previous recipients include Robin Holliday, Leonard Hayflick and Tom Kirkwood.

The Lord Cohen Medal will be presented to Dr Rattan at the combined 61st Annual Scientific Meeting of the BSRA and the 14th Congress of the International Association of Biomedical Gerontology (IABG), to be held in Brighton, UK, on 11–14 July 2011, where he will deliver the Lord Cohen Lecture entitled Biogerontology: from here to where?

Suresh Rattan (born 1955 in Amritsar, India) earned a PhD (1982) from the British Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, and a Doctor of Science (dr.scient., 1995), from Aarhus University, in the field of biogerontology. Since 1984, he has established the Laboratory of Cellular Ageing at Aarhus University, where he studies the molecular basis of ageing and interventions with respect to the synthesis, modifications and turnover of proteins. He is the discoverer of the anti-ageing effects of kinetin and zeatin on human skin cells, which are used globally as components of various skin care products. He is a pioneer in the development and application of the idea of mild stress-induced hormesis as an effective healthy-ageing strategy, which is the basis for several novel anti-ageing products, such as Vax’in For Youth by Givenchy.

Dr Rattan is renowned for his exceptional talent for public communication of the scientific understanding of ageing, health and longevity through general lectures and popular scientific writings, including books for children. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of the international peer-reviewed research journal Biogerontology (Springer Publishers), and is the secretary of the biological section of the International Association of Gerontology (European Region).

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The Lord Cohen Medal is a British medical award honouring individuals who “have made a considerable contribution to ageing research, either through original discoveries or in the promotion of the subject of gerontology in its broadest aspect”. It is the highest award for services to gerontology in the United Kingdom and is named after British physician Henry Cohen.

The medal is awarded by the British Society for Research on Ageing on a sporadic basis, and so only a few recipients exist.

(Text Courtesy: Aarhus University)