Research group Deelen

Genetics and Biomarkers of Human Ageing

Why do some people age more healthily than others? This is the main question we try to address in our research group. To this end, we are studying the genetic mechanisms underlying healthy ageing in humans. We mainly do this by investigating the effect of genetic variants that are unique to long-lived families on the functioning of pathways implicated in ageing and/or age-related diseases. Moreover, we try to identify and validate biomarkers of healthy ageing using data from large-scale international collaborations of human studies.

Our research is focused on three main aims:

  1. Functional characterization of rare protein-altering genetic variants involved in healthy ageing.
  2. Increase the connectivity between ageing research in model organisms and human cohorts.
  3. Establish human ageing studies in Cologne to determine the efficacy of previously identified biomarkers of healthy ageing in clinical studies.

To address these aims, our lab uses different model organisms (i.e. fruit flies and mice) and cellular models, as well as samples from old human individuals (≥70 years of age).

Selected publications

A metabolic profile of all-cause mortality risk identified in an observational study of 44,168 individuals

  • Deelen, J.
  • Kettunen, J.
  • Fischer, K.
  • van der Spek, A.
  • Trompet, S.
  • Kastenmuller, G.
  • Boyd, A.
  • Zierer, J.
  • van den Akker, E. B.
  • Ala-Korpela, M.
  • Amin, N.
  • Demirkan, A.
  • Ghanbari, M.
  • van Heemst, D.
  • Ikram, M. A.
  • van Klinken, J. B.
  • Mooijaart, S. P.
  • Peters, A.
  • Salomaa, V.
  • Sattar, N.
  • Spector, T. D.
  • Tiemeier, H.
  • Verhoeven, A.
  • Waldenberger, M.
  • Wurtz, P.
  • Davey Smith, G.
  • Metspalu, A.
  • Perola, M.
  • Menni, C.
  • Geleijnse, J. M.
  • Drenos, F.
  • Beekman, M.
  • Jukema, J. W.
  • van Duijn, C. M.
  • Slagboom, P. E.
(2019) Nat Commun, 10, 1, 3346

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies multiple longevity genes

  • Deelen, J.
  • Evans, D. S.
  • Arking, D. E.
  • Tesi, N.
  • Nygaard, M.
  • Liu, X.
  • Wojczynski, M. K.
  • Biggs, M. L.
  • van der Spek, A.
  • Atzmon, G.
  • Ware, E. B.
  • Sarnowski, C.
  • Smith, A. V.
  • Seppala, I.
  • Cordell, H. J.
  • Dose, J.
  • Amin, N.
  • Arnold, A. M.
  • Ayers, K. L.
  • Barzilai, N.
  • Becker, E. J.
  • Beekman, M.
  • Blanche, H.
  • Christensen, K.
  • Christiansen, L.
  • Collerton, J. C.
  • Cubaynes, S.
  • Cummings, S. R.
  • Davies, K.
  • Debrabant, B.
  • Deleuze, J. F.
  • Duncan, R.
  • Faul, J. D.
  • Franceschi, C.
  • Galan, P.
  • Gudnason, V.
  • Harris, T. B.
  • Huisman, M.
  • Hurme, M. A.
  • Jagger, C.
  • Jansen, I.
  • Jylha, M.
  • Kahonen, M.
  • Karasik, D.
  • Kardia, S. L. R.
  • Kingston, A.
  • Kirkwood, T. B. L.
  • Launer, L. J.
  • Lehtimaki, T.
  • Lieb, W.
  • Lyytikainen, L. P.
  • Martin-Ruiz, C.
  • Min, J.
  • Nebel, A.
  • Newman, A. B.
  • Nie, C.
  • Nohr, E. A.
  • Orwoll, E. S.
  • Perls, T. T.
  • Province, M. A.
  • Psaty, B. M.
  • Raitakari, O. T.
  • Reinders, M. J. T.
  • Robine, J. M.
  • Rotter, J. I.
  • Sebastiani, P.
  • Smith, J.
  • Sorensen, T. I. A.
  • Taylor, K. D.
  • Uitterlinden, A. G.
  • van der Flier, W.
  • van der Lee, S. J.
  • van Duijn, C. M.
  • van Heemst, D.
  • Vaupel, J. W.
  • Weir, D.
  • Ye, K.
  • Zeng, Y.
  • Zheng, W.
  • Holstege, H.
  • Kiel, D. P.
  • Lunetta, K. L.
  • Slagboom, P. E.
  • Murabito, J. M.
(2019) Nat Commun, 10, 1, 3669

Facing up to the global challenges of ageing

  • Partridge, L.
  • Deelen, J.
  • Slagboom, P. E.
(2018) Nature, 561, 7721, 45-56

Metabolic effects of a 13-weeks lifestyle intervention in older adults: The Growing Old Together Study

  • van de Rest, O.
  • Schutte, B. A.
  • Deelen, J.
  • Stassen, S. A.
  • van den Akker, E. B.
  • van Heemst, D.
  • Dibbets-Schneider, P.
  • van Dipten-van der Veen, R. A.
  • Kelderman, M.
  • Hankemeier, T.
  • Mooijaart, S. P.
  • van der Grond, J.
  • Houwing-Duistermaat, J. J.
  • Beekman, M.
  • Feskens, E. J.
  • Slagboom, P. E.
(2016) Aging (Albany NY), 8, 1, 111-26

Leukocyte telomere length associates with prospective mortality independent of immune-related parameters and known genetic markers

  • Deelen, J.
  • Beekman, M.
  • Codd, V.
  • Trompet, S.
  • Broer, L.
  • Hagg, S.
  • Fischer, K.
  • Thijssen, P. E.
  • Suchiman, H. E.
  • Postmus, I.
  • Uitterlinden, A. G.
  • Hofman, A.
  • de Craen, A. J.
  • Metspalu, A.
  • Pedersen, N. L.
  • van Duijn, C. M.
  • Jukema, J. W.
  • Houwing-Duistermaat, J. J.
  • Samani, N. J.
  • Slagboom, P. E.
(2014) Int J Epidemiol, 43, 3, 878-86

Third-party funding

  • 2017-2019 |  Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers

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