Location
8-9 September 2026, Royal Continental Hotel, Via Partenope, 38, 80121 Naples, Italy
Registration
For SENESCENCE2030 Action members, both in-person and online attendance is by invitation only via the e-COST platform. Please note that participants attending in person are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.
We are also pleased to welcome external participants, who may attend the Symposium either in person or online.
Action members and external participants wishing to attend the Symposium in person are kindly invited to contact Dr. Rosa Spinelli (rosa.spinelli2@unina.it), as places at the venue are limited.
Symposium Programme | Tuesday 8th September 2026
08:30 – 09:00 | Registration
09:00 – 09:30 | Opening Session
Welcome and Introduction
09:30 – 10:30 | Keynote Lecture by Prof. James L. Kirkland (USA)
Chair: Prof. Ulf Smith
10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break (Hotel Royal Continental)
11:00 – 12:15 | Senescence Across Metabolically Active Tissues: Mechanisms, Dysfunction, and Consequences
Chair: Prof. Ulf Smith
11:00 – 11:25 | Prof. Davis Englund (USA) – From aging to injury: cellular senescence as a driver of skeletal muscle dysfunction
11:25 – 11:50 | Prof. Georgina Ellison-Hughes (United Kingdom) – Targeting cell senescence to rejuvenate the heart
11:50 – 12:15 | Dr. Rosa Spinelli (Italy) – Shared senescence programs across metabolically active tissues
12:15 – 13:05 | Senescent Cell Burden and Vulnerabilities
Chair: Prof. Marco Demaria
12:15 – 12:40 | Prof. Valery Krizhanovsky (Israel) – Cell type-specific senescence burden across organs in aging
12:40 – 13:05 | Prof. Juan Carlos Acosta (United Kingdom) – Discovering and targeting senescent cell vulnerabilities
13:05 – 15:00 | Lunch Break (Hotel Royal Continental)
15:00 – 16:40 | Mechanisms, Heterogeneity, and Context-Dependence of Senescence
Chair: Prof. Francesco Beguinot
15:00 – 15:25 | Dr. Francesca Castoldi (Sweden) – Polyamine catabolism as a central regulator of cellular senescence
15:25 – 15:50 | Prof. Marco Demaria (Netherlands) – Purinergic signalling reinforces an inflammatory SASP and promotes senescence-associated dysfunctions
15:50 – 16:15 | Prof. Cleo Bishop (United Kingdom) – Exploring pro-senescence mechanisms and therapeutic strategies for cancer
16:15 – 16:40 | Prof. Vassilis G. Gorgoulis (Greece) – Immune cell senescence and response to immunotherapy
16:40 – 18:00 | Round Table Discussion
Chair: Prof. Marco Demaria
Symposium Programme | Wednesday 9th September 2026
09:00 – 10:40 | Senescence in Complex Disease: from Metabolic Dysfunction to Multimorbidity
Chair: Prof. Francesco Beguinot
09:00 – 09:25 | Prof. Valérie Schini-Kerth (France) – Endothelial senescence: a novel target to improve cardiovascular health
09:25 – 09:50 | Prof. Pasquale Maffia (United Kingdom) – Premature cardiovascular aging in Africa: linking infection, immune activation, and cellular senescence
09:50 – 10:15 | Prof. Ana Guerrero (Spain) – Senolytics in Alzheimer’s disease: insights from preclinical models (Virtual Participation)
10:15 – 10:40 | Prof. Gregory A. Raciti (Italy) – Innovative tools for predicting incident cardiovascular events in patients with Type 2 Diabetes
10:40 – 11:10 | Coffee Break (Hotel Royal Continental)
11:10 – 12:25 | Targeting Senescence in Complex Disease
Chair: Prof. Pasquale Maffia
11:10 – 11:35 | Dr. Mariantonietta D’Ambrosio (United Kingdom) – A covalent fragment screen identifies GPX4-dependent ferroptosis as a novel senescence vulnerability
11:35 – 12:00 | Dr. Stijn Meijnikman (Netherlands) – Senolytics dasatinib plus quercetin reduce liver fibrosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: a phase 2 randomized trial: the Truth study
12:00 – 12:25 | Prof. Carlo Gaetano (Italy) – Targeting inflammaging and cellular senescence: a translational Italian experience in senolytic drug development
12:25 – 13:25 | Selected Young Investigator Presentations
Chair: Dr. Rosa Spinelli
12:25 – 12:40 | Dr. Jack Zhan Haoqun (United Kingdom) – Nuclear integrity influences the dynamic range of inflammation
12:40 – 12:55 | Dr. Antonella Desiderio (Italy) – TNF-α–PANDAR axis drives epigenetic propagation of adipocyte precursor cell senescence in obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
12:55 – 13:10 | Dr. Cláudia M. Deus (Portugal) – miRNAs in metabolic disorders: miRNA-642-3p as a protector of beta cell function under glucolipotoxic stress
13:10 – 13:25 | Dr. Merve Yıldırım (Turkey) – Senescent IPF myofibroblasts exhibit anti-fibrotic proteostatic remodeling and immune-like features
13:25 – 14:00 | Closing Remarks — Future Directions for SENESCENCE2030
Chairs: Prof. Ulf Smith and Prof. Francesco Beguinot
14:00 – 15:30 | Networking Lunch (Hotel Royal Continental)
