PhD defence S. (Silvan) Licher

Great progress has been made in extending life expectancy over the past two centuries. In the twentieth century, mortality from these communicable diseases has been reduced by more than 99%, and the burden of disease has shifted to non-communicable diseases such as cancer and heart disease. In the 21st century, survival has continued to rise and the burden of disease in the aging population has started to shift again: from the patient with a single, often curable disease to the aging patient in 2021 who is at risk of concomitant diseases (‘multimorbidity’) and untreatable neurodegenerative disorders, such as dementia. Dementia is often involved in multimorbidity, as it is an ‘end-stage’ disease at old age. Alternatively, many chronic diseases predate dementia share risk factors with late-life dementia or are risk factors for the neurodegenerative themselves. The main objective of this thesis is to determine the potential of population-wide and personalized preventive strategies to maintain cognitive health into old age.

The public defence will take place at the Senate Hall, 1st floor Erasmus Building, location campus Woudestein. The ceremony will begin exactly at 13.00 PM. In light of the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.