M.M.G. (Merijn) Driessen, MSc

Mosaic Ageing

General aging patterns dependent on the combined senescence of a multitude of different underlying traits.
It was previously assumed that these different traits age in synchrony, but recent work has started to show that there is often a large asynchrony in trait senescence. In this project we will study senescence patterns longitudinally to see how they combine into the general ageing patterns seen in reproduction and mortality. Furthermore we will investigate what is necessary to get asynchronous ageing, in the ultimate goal of understanding and modeling the process to make predictions on why these asynchronous patterns evolved and how they will evolve under different circumstances.

Within this project there will be a large focus on the immune system, looking at immunosenescence and how different living conditions can influence the immune system and trade-off with life history components like reproduction and survival.

This research offers a variety of possible projects for master's students, ranging from labwork on immune function to reproduction measures outdoors and theoretical work on evolution of ageing models. There is also the option for a crossover project together with Yoran Gerritsma, to look at correlations between behaviour and immunity.