Dame Partridge delivers 2012 Graeme Clark Oration

The 2012 Graeme Clark Oration was held on Wednesday 18 July at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre with Dame Linda Partridge, Weldon Professor of Biometry and Director, Institute of Healthy Ageing, University College London delivering the Oration entitled ‘Forever Young?’.

She predicts that within a decade, there will be drugs which could keep us healthy in body and mind long into our old age. Starting in our 40s, we could take medicines to prevent diseases like Alzheimers and heart disease; to preserve our vital organs; and even to keep our hair full and shiny.

Dame Linda heads research teams at University College London, and is the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne. A geneticist by trade, her work has focused on the genetics of age-related diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimers.

veski innovation fellows and board members hosted 10 students and teachers from three Victorian Schools at the 2012 Graeme Clark Oration and Oration Dinner in an effort to inspire the next generation of bright young minds.

The Graeme Clark Oration is an initiative of the ICT for Life Sciences Forum, which was established in Melbourne in 2008 to connect the community of researchers active at the intersection between biology, computing and engineering.

veski has supported the Graeme Clark Oration in previous years by bringing students and veski innovation fellows and promoting the event to its established network.