Advancing Muscle Aging Research: Highlights from the 2025 Ascona Conference

The International Conference on Muscle Wasting, held at Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland from September 21-26, 2025, brought together leading researchers to explore the latest advances in our understanding of muscle wasting during aging and disease. The meeting fostered rich discussions and collaborations on topics such as cachexia, frailty, sarcopenia, and the molecular mechanisms driving muscle decline.

The congress was hosted at the renowned Congressi Stefano Franscini conference center, with breathtaking views overlooking the town of Ascona. Attendance was limited to only 120 participants. The program featured keynote lectures, invited talks, short presentations, and two poster sessions, providing a comprehensive survey of the field’s most urgent challenges and promising solutions. Sessions delved into themes including stem cell dynamics, mTOR signaling, metabolic adaptations, age-associated pathways, neuromuscular disease innovations, and the impact of cellular aging on muscle function.

Helen Blau, director of the Blau Lab at Stanford University, opened the conference Sunday evening with a keynote lecture titled “Enhancing muscle strength in aging by targeting the gerozyme 15-PGDH”. This talk spotlighted research on how inhibition of 15-PGDH, a “gerozyme” linked to age-related muscle loss, may offer a therapy to rejuvenate muscle strength in older adults. Blau’s work, integrating molecular biology and translational strategies, resonated with the conference’s focus on novel interventions for sarcopenia.

Elena Monti, also from the Blau Lab, presented a poster in the second poster session entitled “A novel role for the gerozyme 15-PGDH in human sarcopenia revealed by transcriptomic and spatial proteomics analyses”. Monti’s poster expanded on the Blau lab’s investigations, reporting new findings from high-dimensional approaches that uncover how 15-PGDH impacts muscle aging at molecular and tissue levels. These presentations underscored the lab’s leadership in pioneering research, and sparked interest and dialogue among attendees looking for innovative paths to treat muscle wasting.

Major themes emerging from the meeting included the importance of targeting geroprotective pathways, the role of cellular senescence in muscle decline, and ongoing efforts to develop gene therapies for neuromuscular diseases. Talks from experts such as Helen Blau exemplified the translation of basic science discoveries into prospective clinical applications, with robust debates on the future of aging medicine and muscle regeneration.

In summary, the Ascona conference advanced the field of muscle biology by revealing bold new findings and facilitating essential conversations. It showcased the Blau Lab’s prominent contributions and provided a launchpad for future research alliances in the quest to combat muscle wasting and promote healthy aging.