The Sixth Annual Symposium of the Midwest Aging Consortium

Geroscience research benefits from interdisciplinary approaches, team science, and collaborations, which collectively facilitate the discovery of aging mechanisms and their translation into tangible, clinical interventions. Since its inception in 2019, the Midwest Aging Consortium (MAC) has provided an engaging platform for aging researchers in the United States' Midwest to connect, collaborate, and exchange ideas. The Sixth Annual Research Symposium of the MAC held at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in April 2025 highlighted the continued impact of the MAC in bringing together aging researchers, including many trainees and early career investigators, into a collaborative environment. This record-setting event featured interdisciplinary research on key aging mechanisms, including lipid metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, stress response, cellular senescence, and immune adaptations across organ systems. New therapeutic concepts and clinical trial approaches were presented. Cutting-edge methodologies including single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, metabolomics, and organoid cultures, to dissect aging process in tissue-specific and systemic contexts also were presented. Overall, the MAC symposium underscored the translational potential of geroscience and reinforced the MAC's mission to accelerate aging research through regional collaborations and innovation.