I work on the biology of ageing. My research is directed to understanding the mechanisms by which healthy lifespan can be extended in laboratory model organisms and humans. My work has focussed in particular on the role of nutrient-sensing pathways, such as the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling pathway, and on the role of diet, and her primary interest is in geroprotective drugs.

I was honoured with a DBE for Services to Science in 2009 and am a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

I am the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany and Biological Secretary at the Royal Society.