The immune system is substantially modified with advancing age contrubitng to increased infection risk, reduced vaccination responses and autoimmunity. This seminar will cover some of the key changes and how these contribute to human ageing overall with some suggestions for how to overcome the age-related compromise. Professor Lord will also discuss unpublished data on the role of immune ageing in rheumatoid arthritis and whether accelerated biological ageing contributes to broader diseases susceptibility in these patients.