BLUE ZONE CONSORTIUM
Professor Bee Tan from the University of Leicester’s Deptartment Cardiovascular Sciences is a co-investigator in the Blue Zone Consortium led through Nottingham Trent University (NTU).
This initiative is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC, UKRI) through the Flexible Talent Mobility Account (FTMA) Award, and seeks to transform healthy aging through cross-sector collaboration, leveraging biotechnology and biosciences.
The consortium addresses the growing health challenges of an aging UK population. By 2040, nearly one in seven UK residents will be over 75 and of these, many will face multiple health challenges. In contrast, ‘blue zones’ are populations around the world who experience lower rates of chronic disease and live longer, healthier lives. Our consortium aims to replicate these outcomes.
Key initiatives include:
• Funding Competitions: To facilitate knowledge exchange and mobilise talent.
• Training Programmes: Focused on entrepreneurial, leadership, and project management skills.
• Networking Events: Empowering early-career scientists and technical professionals through collaboration.
Prof Tan says “This project will help new knowledge and skill acquisition for early career researchers and technical professionals by exposure to original approaches of thinking and environments as well as building novel collaborations between the 3 partners namely Nottingham Trent, Leicester and Northumbria universities, and industry. This project will also help address the decreasing diversity issue in particular amongst early career researchers and technical professionals in Leicester.”
The consortia will be further supported by the University of Leicester’s College of Life Sciences Academic Lead for Early Career Researchers & Research Staff, Dr Andrew Millard, and through the Institute for Precision Health.
Led by NTU, Northumbria University, and the University of Leicester, the consortium includes higher education institutions, over 500 businesses, six NHS Trusts, two councils, and five care sector organizations.
For more information, contact bluezoneenquiries@ntu.ac.uk or visit our website