Interested in Sarcopenia? Come and join us in Newcastle in June 2020!

Professor Avan Sayer is Director of the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, and chair of the International Sarcopenia Translational Research Conference which is taking place in Newcastle on 11-12 June 2020. Professor Sayer and her BGS Sarcopenia SIG co-chair, Professor Miles Witham, explain why you should come and conference in Newcastle this summer.

Sarcopenia is a hot topic in research and clinical practice for anyone caring for older people. It is common, and is associated with multiple adverse outcomes that we all see in everyday practice including falls, fractures, prolonged hospitalization, loss of independence and earlier death. Although we don't fully understand the pathophysiology of sarcopenia we are now starting to get a much better understanding of the causes and pathology - and these new research findings are beginning to translate into trials of new therapies for sarcopenia.

Given these exciting developments, it's a good time for a new conference. We are delighted to be holding the inaugural International Sarcopenia Translational Research Conference in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK on June 11th and 12th 2020. The conference, built around the theme “Where Worlds Meet”, will bring together a diverse range of practitioners and researchers from discovery science, sports science, exercise practitioners, clinical researchers and clinicians. We have a fantastic range of international speakers including Professor Miranda Grounds (discovery science), Professor Michael Kjaer (sports science), Professor Dawn Skelton (exercise) and Professor John Morley (drugs). There will be plenty of poster presentations, and workshops on new techniques to measure muscle mass, building research networks to tackle sarcopenia, and practical tips on how to give lifestyle advice to people with sarcopenia.

So why should you attend? There is no better way to find out about the latest developments in sarcopenia than to network with a wide range of colleagues. The best conferences are those where we meet and interact with a different group of people to those that we usually encounter; these are the conferences where we learn the most and generate new ideas for our practice. We believe that ISTRC 2020 will provide a fantastic opportunity for you to do just this. We think that you will go home with exciting new ideas to change your practice, get involved in research as well as having had the benefit of some legendary Newcastle social life (and of course some CPD points – the conference is CPD approved by the Royal College of Physicians).

We have deliberately kept the costs low; please visit our website, and follow us on Twitter via @sarcopeniaconf. In addition, it's not too late to submit an abstract if you missed our first deadline – we will be inviting late-breaking abstracts in the next few weeks, so get your abstract prepared and watch out for the announcement on our website and on social media.

We look forward to seeing you in Newcastle in June!

Professor Avan Aihie Sayer and Professor Miles Witham