ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The goals are 1. To develop a scale assessing the diversity of active ageing with four dimensions that are ability (what people can do), activity (what people do do), ambition (what are the valued activities that people want to do), and autonomy (how satisfied people are with the opportunity to do valued activities); 2. To examine health and physical and psychological functioning as the determinants and social and build environment, resilience and personal skills as modifiers of active ageing; 3. To develop a multicomponent sustainable intervention aiming to promote active ageing (methods: counselling, information technology, help from volunteers); 4. To test the feasibility and effectiveness on the intervention; and 5. To study cohort effects on the phenotypes on the pathway to active ageing. “If You Can Measure It, You Can Change It.” Active ageing assessment needs conceptual progress, which I propose to do. A quantifiable scale will be developed that captures the diversity of active ageing stemming from the WHO definition of active ageing as the process of optimizing opportunities for health and participation in the society for all people in line with their needs, goals and capacities as they age. I will collect cross-sectional data (N=1000, ages 75, 80 and 85 years) and model the pathway to active ageing with state-of-the art statistical methods. By doing this I will create novel knowledge on preconditions for active ageing. The collected cohort data will be compared to a pre-existing cohort data that was collected 25 years ago to obtain knowledge about changes over time in functioning of older people. A randomized controlled trial (N=200) will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the envisioned intervention promoting active ageing through participation. The project will regenerate ageing research by launching a novel scale, by training young scientists, by creating new concepts and theory development and by producing evidence for active ageing promotion

2 044 364 €

Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31

Atmospheric aerosol particles and trace gases affect the quality of our life in many ways (e.g. health effects, changes in climate and hydrological cycle). Trace gases and atmospheric aerosols are tightly connected via physical, chemical, meteorological and biological processes occurring in the atmosphere and at the atmosphere-biosphere interface. One important phenomenon is atmospheric aerosol formation, which involves the production of nanometer-size particles by nucleation and their growth to detectable sizes. The main scientific objectives of this project are 1) to quantify the mechanisms responsible for atmospheric new particle formation and 2) to find out how important this process is for the behaviour of the global aerosol system and, ultimately, for the whole climate system. Our scientific plan is designed as a research chain that aims to advance our understanding of climate and air quality through a series of connected activities. We start from molecular simulations and laboratory measurements to understand nucleation and aerosol thermodynamic processes. We measure nanoparticles and atmospheric clusters at 15-20 sites all around the world using state of the art instrumentation and study feedbacks and interactions between climate and biosphere. With these atmospheric boundary layer studies we form a link to regional-scale processes and further to global-scale phenomena. In order to be able to simulate global climate and air quality, the most recent progress on this chain of processes must be compiled, integrated and implemented in Climate Change and Air Quality numerical models via novel parameterizations.

2 000 000 €

Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2013-12-31

Preventing dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD) is a global priority. Previous single-intervention failures stress the critical need for a new multimodal preventive approach in these complex multifactorial conditions. The Brain Health Toolbox is designed to create a seamless continuum from accurate dementia prediction to effective prevention by i) developing the missing disease models and prediction tools for multimodal prevention; ii) testing them in actual multimodal prevention trials; and iii) bridging the gap between non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches by designing a combined multimodal prevention trial based on a new European adaptive trial platform. Disease models and prediction tools will be multi-dimensional, i.e. a broad range of risk factors and biomarker types, including novel markers. An innovative machine learning method will be used for pattern identification and risk profiling to highlight most important contributors to an individual’s overall risk level. This is crucial for early identification of individuals with high dementia risk and/or high likelihood of specific brain pathologies, quantifying an individual’s prevention potential, and longitudinal risk and disease monitoring, also beyond trial duration. Three Toolbox test scenarios are considered: use for selecting target populations, assessing heterogeneity of intervention effects, and use as trial outcome. The project is based on a unique set-up aligning several new multimodal lifestyle trials aiming to adapt and test non-pharmacological interventions to different geographic, economic and cultural settings, with two reference libraries (observational - large datasets; and interventional - four recently completed pioneering multimodal lifestyle prevention trials). The Brain Health Toolbox covers the entire continuum from general populations to patients with preclinical/prodromal disease stages, and will provide tools for personalized decision-making for dementia prevention.

1 498 268 €

Start date: 2019-02-01, End date: 2024-01-31

Chinese global engagements are deepening across sectors and geographic regions. The objective of BROKEX is to fill specific gaps in knowledge about how China’s extraversion advances. The project takes an original approach by examining brokers who mediate in transnational fields. It opens the “black box” of China’s global integration by moving beyond descriptions of input and output characteristics to elucidate underlying dynamics. The objective will be achieved in two phases. First, the PI and two postdoctoral researchers will carry out ethnographic case studies in the Pearl River Delta, South China, that yield complementary information on the common challenge of brokering across geographic scales: * Connecting low-cost Chinese manufacturing with African markets; * Integrating Chinese academic research with global scientific communities; * Transnational architecture production. The diverse cases offer insights into the mechanisms of brokerage across distinctive sectors. In the second step, we build on the empirical findings and literature to develop brokerage theory. Social scientific research on brokerage commonly uses the morphology of social networks as its starting point, and focuses on how actors positioned at the intersection between groups operate. BROKEX adopts an innovative approach by examining how actors strategically seek to shape network morphologies in order to bridge gaps between groups. By directing theoretical attention towards relationship formation that precedes acts of brokerage, this line of inquiry advances understandings of how and why brokered connections emerge. Ethnographic case studies combined with critical theorization will generate new knowledge about the processes beneath the “rise of China” ─ one of the most consequential socioeconomic developments of our times.

1 490 773 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31