Biology of Aging
- Course Number: GMS 6486
- Credits: 3
- Course Format: This online course is tailored for asynchronous distance learners.
- Course Syllabus: Download
Course Description
Aging is a fundamental biological process that shapes resilience, vulnerability and longevity across the lifespan. This course examines the biological foundations of aging, exploring how cellular, molecular and organ-level changes influence health, resilience and longevity.
Rather than focusing on aging as a collection of diseases, the course explores aging as a biological process shared across species, including humans.
Students will develop a conceptual framework for understanding how aging emerges from changes at the cellular, organ and whole-body levels, and why these changes increase vulnerability to conditions such as frailty, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and sensory loss. Drawing on examples from human studies and model organisms, the course connects fundamental biology to everyday questions about longevity, vitality and healthy living across the lifespan.
Throughout the semester, we will examine how aging affects major organ systems—such as the immune system, heart, brain and sensory systems—and explore why these systems become less resilient over time. The course also investigates evidence-based interventions, including nutrition, intermittent fasting and exercise, that influence biological aging, mitochondrial health and promote healthy longevity.
Course Goals
The goals of the course are two-fold:
- to provide a foundation of the fundamental concepts and terminology of aging and age-related diseases; and
- to promote critical thinking of the clinical consequences of aging and associated diseases.
