Professor Ilaria Bellantuono, Co-Director of the Healthy Lifespan Institute at the University of Sheffield, recently received the Senior Leader award as part of the inaugural Dunhill Medical Trust Academy Excellence Awards. Here we share her approach to leadership, which focuses on fostering collaboration and creating an environment that empowers others.
Leadership in academia often adheres to a narrow definition – by the number of grants you get and the number of papers you publish. But for Professor Ilaria Bellantuono it’s about more than that. “My way of leadership has always been quite different. It was much more about bringing about change, supporting people, and creating the right environment.”
This view of leadership fits perfectly with our values here at the Dunhill Medical Trust. “The Dunhill Medical Trust adopts a definition of leadership that aligns with how I think. It’s refreshing,” Ilaria says, describing how the DMT works with its award-holders by being “more focused on building people up, like a leader should do.”
Pioneering healthy ageing research
Ilaria’s personal research is on developing a new class of drugs called geroprotectors, aimed at targeting the biological mechanisms of ageing. “These drugs are able to delay the occurrence of cellular dysfunction or eliminate very old cells,” she explains. These efforts are driven by the goal of preventing multiple age-related conditions simultaneously—an approach that contrasts sharply with the current model of treating each disease individually.
But Ilaria, much like the DMT, sees drug development as part of the broader picture of healthy ageing. As Co-Director of the Healthy Lifespan Institute, a multidisciplinary institute uniting over 200 researchers from diverse fields like biomedicine, arts and humanities, social sciences and engineering, she believes this diversity is one of the institute’s defining strengths, particularly in how it approaches the prevention of age-related conditions.
“Our focus goes beyond the single-disease model. We look at prevention as a collective effort and integrate bio-social approaches. Diseases are often viewed as purely biological or social in nature, but their reality is a combination of both,” Ilaria explains.
Championing interdisciplinary collaboration
Ilaria is also co-leader of UKAgeNet, a new consortium connecting over 70 research centres or networks focused on ageing. The goal: to boost interdisciplinary research and create frameworks for impactful collaborations. “We leverage collective knowledge to understand effective methods, and disseminate best practices through workshops,” she explains.
A portion of her award funds will support UKAgeNet in three key areas. One area is co-production, something both Ilaria and the DMT are passionate about. She plans to “utilise the network’s knowledge to understand co-production best practices – particularly when it comes to recruiting diverse project participants.”
The second area is developing a framework for impact. “Mapping stakeholders, particularly policymakers, to understand how and who we can influence. We’ll also be identifying best practices for impact from across the network.” Ilaria also plans to use some of the funding to dedicate time to improve her own understanding of the policy-making world.
Bridging disciplines and generations
The third area her award funds will be put towards is boosting interdisciplinary research. Ilaria recognises the tension between social and medical sciences: “It’s quite difficult for many people to work together. We need to understand the barriers and how UKAgeNet can help overcome them.”
Nurturing the next generation of researchers is crucial for Ilaria, not just for overcoming these barriers, but also for gaining fresh perspectives and launching projects others might hesitate to pursue.
One innovative approach she supports is “discipline hopping” for PhD students and early career researchers, building interdisciplinary bridges and encouraging collaboration. “The best way to foster interdisciplinary research is through hands-on projects. This approach offers an opportunity for increased interdisciplinary cooperation,” she explains.
The DMT awarded Ilaria our inaugural Senior Leader award because she exemplifies a modern, inclusive vision of academic leadership. Her efforts through the Healthy Lifespan Institute and UKAgeNet are testament to the power of combining diverse perspectives to address complex challenges and resonates with our own focus on building a movement for positive change. As she continues to support the next generation of researchers and bridge the gap between science and policy, Ilaria’s work not only advances our understanding of ageing, but also sets a new standard for leadership in academia.