Professor Aspinall, who is Director of the Health and Wellbeing Academy at Anglia Ruskin, received the medal during the 65th British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) Annual General Meeting at University College London, after giving the keynote Cohen lecture.
Established in 1979 and first awarded in 1980, the Lord Cohen Medal honours a person who, in the view of the Medal Committee, has made a considerable contribution to ageing research, both through original discoveries or in the promotion of the subject of gerontology in its broadest aspects.
As we get older our immune system winds down, which makes us more susceptible to infection and means we make poorer responses to vaccines. Professor Aspinall’s work has involved characterising these changes with the aim of identifying a means of improving immunity in older people. In addition he has been involved in the design and production of devices to assist in identifying older people with infectious disease.
He is a former president of the BSRA and is spearheading the new MSc Medical Technology course at Anglia Ruskin University.
Professor Aspinall said: “It was a great honour to give the keynote Cohen Lecture at the BSRA’s AGM. The field of research into ageing is crucial in a society when people are living longer and health services are having to come up with more cost-effective solutions for an ageing population.
“Our future wellbeing lies at the intersection of medicine and technology and I am proud to have been chosen for this honour as recognition of the work I have been doing in this field.”
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For more press information please contact:
Jon Green on t: 0845 196 4717, e: jon.green@anglia.ac.uk
Jamie Forsyth on t: 0845 196 4716, e: jamie.forsyth@anglia.ac.uk
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Anglia Ruskin Professor receives prestigious medal
3 July 2015
Anglia Ruskin University’s Professor Richard Aspinall has been given the Lord Cohen Medal for his contribution to research in ageing.