The Jena School for Ageing Medicine (JSAM) of the Jena university hospital is funded by the Else Kröner Foundation. It provides research projects and an educational programme to qualify medical students for a career as clinician scientist in ageing research. Ageing leads to impairment of tissue homeostasis and functional decline of organs and represents a main risk factor for prevalent diseases such as cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration. The aim of research projects in JSAM is to define targets for therapeutical interventions that counteract age-related impairment of tissue and organ function.

Medical students are enrolled over a period of three years. They are involved into the development of a research proposal, perform experimental work, which is scheduled for one year, and thereafter participate in a supervision programme to promote publishing and public presentation of the results. All doctoral students will be offered a position for a specialist medical training in the university hospital and will have the option to join a clinician scientist programme. In addition to experimental work, JSAM provides a set of courses on different topics of ageing research, enables participation in conferences, and internships in host laboratories.

Current projects: Stipendiatinnen & Stipendiaten (uniklinikum-jena.de)