iTechAge is Launched at the Technion

The world’s population is aging at a rapid pace. Estimates indicate that the percentage of people aged 65 and over in the population will double over the next two decades. Enhancing the quality of life of the elderly is thus one of the most complex health challenges facing humanity. As part of the Technion’s vision to engage and influence global challenges and health issues in particular, the Technion Center for Healthy Aging (iTechAge) was launched as a multi-disciplinary, campus wide research center.

Deputy Senior Vice President for Biomedical Science and Engineering and Head of the Technion Human Health Initiative (THHI) Prof. Noam Ziv

At the launch event, Deputy Senior Vice President for Biomedical Science and Engineering and Head of the Technion Human Health Initiative (THHI) Prof. Noam Ziv, described the evolution of the Center from its inception to its current form. This initiative was made possible, among other things, by a large-scale effort led by Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan to promote cross-faculty collaborative research in the realm of human health.

Head of the Center for Healthy Aging Prof. Shai Shen-Orr

During the event, Prof. Shai Shen-Orr, head of the Center for Healthy Aging and faculty member at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, detailed how the integration of the Technion’s unique strategic advantages—a technological university with a medical faculty, experience in collaborative multi-disciplinary research, the accumulation of high-quality professional knowledge for analysis and inference, investigators from the fields of medicine, science, and engineering in a collaborative research environment with a collective goal, commitment, and sense of mission—will lead to formative research with a real impact on people, communities, decision-makers, and policies.

Later in the event, the four synergistic Center components were presented:

Establishing the Center and Creating Content

Emphasis on creating a community of researchers, strategic collaborations, pooling resources, and sharing knowledge.

Creating a Representative Human Cohort

Spanning a wide spectrum of ages and having increased diversity characteristics, initially encompassing about 1,000 individuals and expected to grow to about 10,000. The database based on this cohort will include clinical data and biological samples collected longitudinally over many years and will serve to address multiple health, medical, and lifestyle questions.

Systems Medicine Center

Creating a unified center for the collection, analysis, and centralization of samples and data, based on existing infrastructure centers, including the Azrieli Genomics Center, the Smoler Proteomics Center, and the Perlmutter Metabolomics Center.

Research Themes

• Decoding Aging Mechanisms at the Cellular and Molecular Levels: Led by Assistant Professor Ayala Shiber and Associate Professor Arnon Henn from the Faculty of Biology.
• Studying Aging Influences on Body Systems (Immune System, Hormonal System): Led by Assistant Professor Noga Ron-Harel, Faculty of Biology, and Prof. Shai Shen-Orr, Faculty of Medicine.
• Studying the Effects of Aging on Brain Function: Led by Assistant Professor Firas Mawassi, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, and Assistant Professor Ben Engelhard, Faculty of Medicine.
• Biomarkers and Integrative Models to Understand and Predict Aging Metrics at the Individual Level: Led by Associate Professor Yoni Savir, Faculty of Medicine.
• Designing, Developing, and Testing Food and Drug Compounds for the Elderly: Led by Prof. Uri Lesmes, Biotechnology and Food Engineering.
• Means and Devices to Aid Movement and Mobility Among the Elderly: Led by Dr. Arielle Fisher.
• Social Aspects of Aging: Communities as means to maintain mental and physical health, and establishing appropriate directives to optimize such aspects, led by Associate Professor Merav Aharon Gutman, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.

The Center was established thanks to the involvement and support of the Senior Vice President of the Technion, Prof. Oded Rabinovitch, the Vice President for Research Prof. Noam Adir, the Vice President and CEO Dr. Rafi Aviram, and the Vice President for External Relations and Resource Development Prof. Wayne Kaplan.