Back online with new LIGA paper on DNAm clocks

1. April 2026

Welcome back to the LIGA newsfeed! You might have noticed a prolonged period of radio silence on our website since November 2023. The truth is, our team has been completely immersed in extensive data analysis and several large-scale multi-omics projects, leaving us with little time to update our “digital business card” (i.e. this website). We are excited to break this silence by sharing our latest scientific milestone. A new study led by former LIGA MSc student Anna M. Weissenburg was recently posted as a preprint on medRxiv. By evaluating 14 different DNA methylation clocks with respect to their ability to predict cognitive performance and decline, the study reveals that the third-generation DunedinPACE clock shows the strongest and most consistent associations with cognition in older adults. These results highlight DunedinPACE as representing a potential epigenetic biomarker for the early detection of cognitive decline. Anna prepared these analyses as part of her MSc thesis in our group (which she successfully defended in 2025). For this publication, several analyses and parts of the text were updated by co-first author and LIGA PhD student Marit Junge. The full text of this study can be found at https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.23.26349074v1.