For best experience please turn on javascript and use a modern browser!
You are using a browser that is no longer supported by Microsoft. Please upgrade your browser. The site may not present itself correctly if you continue browsing.
Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)

Adopting a complex systems perspective on aging

Sharing viewpoints and exploring possibilities for interdisciplinary cooperation

The conference is part of his “WARP-AGE” research project which applies ‘Dynamic Time Warping’ to unravel the complexity of changes in physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning with aging. It is an initiative from dr. Almar Kok, senior researcher at the department of Epidemiology & Data Science and the department of Psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC.
Date
5 July 2024
Time
09:00 -17:00

Human aging entails complex, dynamic processes involving interactions between biological, behavioural and social factors. Still, most aging research works from a reductionistic and deterministic framework, and remains limited in considering the impact of complex and multifactorial aging-related changes on the functioning of aging individuals as a whole. This invitational conference brings together researchers from different disciplines (e.g. psychological methods, epidemiology, geriatrics) who share an interest in complex systems science and how this could enrich understanding of aging in all of its facets.
The goals of this conference are:

  1. To inspire one another with ongoing or anticipated research on aging from a complex systems perspective;
  2. To formulate shared research questions and goals that can be answered/achieved by adopting a complex systems perspective on aging;
  3. To expand each participants’ networks and explore possibilities for interdisciplinary cooperation on these questions and goals.

Programme

9:00 Walk-in 
9:30 Introduction by Almar Kok
10:00 
  • Round of 4 minute presentations of each attendee
  • Round of responses from the group – which of the ideas and perspectives of the other attendees stuck with you, and why?
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Presentations of (emerging) theories and conceptual frameworks
  • Biological aging and resilience of geriatric patients from a complex systems perspective, by René Melis
  • A cascade theory of aging, by Richard Ridderinkhof & Han van der Maas
  • Adopting a complex systems perspective on ‘functional aging’, by Almar Kok and Gaby Lunansky
14:30 Coffee Break
14:45  Brainstorm session
  • Round 1:
    • What are important questions for the future to develop aging research from a complex systems perspective? Questions can be theoretical, conceptual, methodological and practical.
  • Round 2:
    • What could be the follow-up to this conference?
    • What are your wishes with regards to future meetings, workgroups, collaborations?
    • What relevant fields of research were not represented in this conference but should be included?
  • Feedback of results from the break-out groups
16:15 Wrap-up and closing
16:30  Drinks

Invited speakers

  • Dr. Gaby Lunansky – postdoctoral researcher at Amsterdam UMC and IAS fellow;
  • Dr. René Melis – senior researcher at Radboud UMC;
  • Prof. Dr. Richard Ridderinkhof – professor of agility and aging at the University of Amsterdam;
  • Prof. Dr. Han van der Maas – professor of psychological methods at the University of Amsterdam and board member of IAS
  • Dr. Almar Kok - senior researcher at the department of Epidemiology & Data Science and the department of Psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC

About the organizer

Dr. Almar Kok has a background in sociology and leads research focusing mainly on psychosocial factors and aging. He integrates theories, concepts and longitudinal cohort data from multiple disciplines, for example as head of the Mental Functioning group of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) and Co-PI of the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older persons (NESDO).

Currently funded projects include WARP-AGE: unravelling the complexity of ageing through Dynamic Time Warping (ZonMw Off Road programme); POINTR: examining the role of self-reliance in the development of and recovery from affective disorders (ZonMw GGZ research fellowship) and the sustainability of Resilience After Depression during the Covid-pandemic (Stichting tot Steun VCVGZ grant). Almar believes that adopting a complex systems perspective could significantly help to integrate research and insights on how different domains of functioning change and interact as individuals age.

This is an invitation-only event.