International Professors of Geriatric Medicine Visit Newcastle

On Monday 17th February 2025, the AGE Research Group and the Ageing, Sarcopenia and Multimorbidity theme of the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) welcomed an international group of Professors of Geriatric Medicine led by Professor Hidenori Arai from the National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology in Japan to Newcastle University and Newcastle Hospitals. The visit of this 13-strong delegation provided a unique opportunity to exchange insights on research and clinical practice, encourage collaboration, and foster ideas for innovation.

The day started with an introduction to Newcastle’s pioneering translational ageing research, including novel developments in patient cohorts, experimental medicine and clinical trials, presented by Professors Avan Aihie Sayer, Rachel Cooper and Miles Witham. There was then a tour of specialist facilities at the Clinical Ageing Research Unit (CARU) with demonstrations of portable equipment being used to assess skeletal muscle in patients’ own homes and remote monitoring techniques being developed by Newcastle’s world-leading gait lab.

Digital hospital care in action

The visit also provided an opportunity for our international guests to learn about how Newcastle Hospitals are leading in digital hospital care, including work on electronic implementation of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) System. This is a standardised method for early detection of patient deterioration used across the NHS and building on this work, Newcastle Hospitals are bringing together data on frailty scoring, delirium screening and NEWS into electronic dashboards to facilitate clinical decision-making and monitoring.

Co-Lead of the NIHR Newcastle BRC Informatics and Precision Care for an Ageing Population Theme Dr Chris Plummer, who is also Chief Clinical Informatics Officer at Newcastle Hospitals, invited the group to the Royal Victoria Infirmary. Together with Dr Lynsey Threlfall, Consultant in Acute Medicine, Melissa Burnside, Deterioration & Sepsis Lead Specialist Nurse, and Dr Amanda Kilsby, Consultant Geriatrician, they outlined their work to further improve the accuracy and utility of NEWS2 by incorporating additional patient data and adjusting the scoring process through novel machine-learning techniques, providing a precision medicine approach tailored to different groups of patients.  

National Innovation Centre for Ageing

The final stage of the visit was to the Catalyst building where the visitors were welcomed by Professor Brian Walker, Strategic Advisor, Executive Office at Newcastle University, Professor Nic Palmarini, Director of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA), and Professor Lynne Corner, Chief Operating Officer of NICA and Director of Voice. They heard about the work of NICA and Voice and in turn, our visitors showcased their own research.

Looking ahead

This visit, which was supported by the ART of Healthy Ageing Network, marked a significant step in fostering international collaborations in translational ageing research and digital health care. The AGE Research Group is committed to driving forward impactful research and clinical advancements in ageing, ensuring that our growing older population receives the highest standard of care. We look forward to further engagement with our international colleagues and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.

Last modified: Thu, 27 Feb 2025 10:03:47 GMT