THE LAYERS OF AGING

Aging happens everywhere, all at once. Your cells become less capable of getting rid of damaged proteins as efficiently. Your immune system starts attacking your own tissues. Your tissues lose their ability to regenerate. These are all interconnected processes that form what we call ‘aging’. But how do researchers actually study them? By zooming in and out across biological scales—from molecular machinery to whole-body function.

The Science Café on February 10 brings together three researchers who each tackle aging at a different scale. You’ll see how damage at the cellular level triggers system-wide changes, why different organs age at different rates, and what scientists mean by the ‘hallmarks of aging’—the specific biological breakdowns that define the process. Molecular biologist Liesbeth Veenhoff (ERIBA, UMCG) explores how the guardrails protecting our cellular building blocks can break down over time. Victor Guryev (ERIBA, UMCG), working at the interface of bioinformatics and systems biology, identifies which age-related changes in our DNA actually cause disease. Finally, geriatrician Marcel Olde Rikkert (Radboudumc) takes us to the level of the whole organism, where aging emerges as a dynamic, multifaceted process with profound implications for medicine and society.

A night of science and discussion over a pint, with Croí filling The Shamrock with warm, atmospheric Irish folk.
 

scientists/8 pm      Marcel Olde Rikkert (RU), Liesbeth Veenhoff (RUG) and Victor Guryev (RUG)
music/7 pm            Croí

moderator              Bob Stienen

timeTuesday February 10th 2026, 7.30/8 – 10 pm
venue                       The Shamrock, Smetiusstraat 17, Nijmegen

admissionfree admission (no reservation)

languageDutch

infowww.sciencecafenijmegen.nl