Workshop – Nutritional Interventions for Healthy Ageing

Nutritional Interventions for Healthy Ageing: Research Gaps and Future Directions
Brussels, Belgium
16/02/2026 – 17/02/2026
ILSI Europe office

The ILSI Europe Healthy Europe Task Force is organising an expert workshop to identify research and translation gaps in nutritional strategies to support healthy ageing. The outcome of this workshop will inform the Task Force's agenda and the direction of future research activities on nutritional interventions to be developped in 2026. These activities could potentially include: Determining factors that impact our immune system and link them to specific ingredients, foods or diets; and: Pinpointing ingredients, foods, and/or diets that support healthy ageing.​

Workshop Objectives and Background

The workshop “Nutritional Interventions for Healthy Ageing: Research Gaps and Future Directions” will explore the current state of science in nutritional approaches to support healthy ageing, with the goal of identifying key research and translation gaps. The agenda will focus on critical themes including the gut microbiome, cognition, muscle health, mitochondrial fitness, and sustainable diets, all within the context of age-specific diet efficacy and nutritional strategies across the lifespan. In addition to mapping existing evidence, the workshop will address challenges in defining appropriate clinical endpoints and designing effective interventions tailored to different stages of ageing.

Featuring three keynote presentations and a series of interactive sessions, including panel discussions, the workshop will encourage interdisciplinary dialogue to shape future research priorities, support the development of targeted nutritional interventions, and lay the groundwork for collaborative clinical research in the field of healthy ageing.

This activity will result in peer-reviewed proceedings and actionable insights to guide future research in nutritional interventions in healthy ageing.

Read the proceedings of our previous workshop here: Building a roadmap to nutrition for Healthy Ageing: a brief report on the ILSI Europe Healthy Agein…

Workshop Agenda

Day 1

 

10:00 - Registration & Welcome Coffee

10:30 - ILSI Europe Presentation
10:40 - ​Healthy Ageing Task Force Introduction​ and Aim of the Workshop
10:50 - ​Prof. Matteo Cesari (World Health Organisation), Advancing Healthy Ageing Through Nutrition
11:20 - Prof. ​Anne-Marie Minihane (University of East Anglia) - Early Nutrition Intervention to Promote Healthy Life Expectancy ​

11:50 - Coffee Break

12:20 - Dr. Miguel Gueimonde (CSIC) -  Nutrition for Healthy Ageing Through the Gut Microbiota lens
12:50 - Prof. Piril Hepsomali (University of Reading) - Nutrition and Cognition in Aging: Evidence, Challenges, and Opportunities

13:20 - Lunch

14:30 - ​Prof. Pol Grootswagers (Wageningen University) - Nutritional Interventions to Slow Muscle Ageing
15:00 - ​Dr. Asya Dolgikh (EPFL) - Precision Nutrition for Mitochondrial Health: From Accelerated Disease Models to Healthy Aging

15:30 - Coffee Break

15:50 - Evidence and Gaps Wall
16:50 - Closing Day 1 and Setting the Stage for Day 2

19:00 - Dinner

Day 2

 

9:00 - Welcome Coffee

9:30 - Start of Day 2: Introduction to World Café
9:40 - World Café: Co-Creating Research Directions

11:00 - Coffee Break

11:30 - Dissemination of Discussions Conclusions
12:30 - Workshop Closing: What’s Next

13:00 - Lunch​

Organising Committee

  • Miguel Gueimonde, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias, ES
  • Pol Grootswagers, Wageningen University & Research, NL
  • Piril Hepsomall, University or Reading, UK
  • Bruno Pot, Yakult Europe, NL
  • Rachael Patusco, Haleon, US
  • Maria Tonti, ILSI Europe, BE

Registration

This workshop is upon invitation only. Invited experts can register via the registration form sent by email.

If you're interested in this topic and believe you can bring a valuable contribution to the discussion, please contact mtonti@ilsieurope.be.

Organised by the Healthy Ageing Task Force.