46th Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association - Project Summary/Abstract: The mission of AGE is (i) to promote biomedical aging studies intended to increase
the functional life span of humans (ii) To increase knowledge of biogerontology among relevant communities of
research and practice and (iii) to inform, facilitate and engage the public regarding the progress and potential of
aging research to deliver a long and healthy life. This mission is closely aligned to that of NIA; accordingly the
society seeks financial support for our Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM).
Our ASM is the primary means by which this mission is delivered. It is at once the only annual meeting in the
USA exclusively focused on biogerontology and one of the longest standing and most prestigious aging meetings
in the world. To facilitate attendance by the widest possible range of stakeholders, the location of AGE meetings
is changed annually. Accordingly, recent meetings have taken place in Seattle (2016), Los Angeles, (2015), San
Antonio (2014), Baltimore (2013) and Fort Worth (2012). The 2017 meeting is the first AGE has held in New
York. The popularity of the destination, the presence of some of the world’s most highly ranked universities and
the relative ease of travel were central to the selection of this city and are expected to draw high attendance,
especially from Europe which will increase the reach and diversity of our meeting.
Our 2017 meeting will address three major goals. Firstly, to deepen the knowledge of attendees by devoting
sessions to key research fields under-represented at past AGE meetings (e.g. replicative senescence,
inflammation and immune senescence). Secondly, to broaden the expertise available to the field by devoting
sessions to new model systems (both human and non-human). Lastly, to build the “social capital of science” by
helping researchers of all experience levels and from laboratories across the world form a cohesive and mutually
supporting community.
This is being delivered with a cross-cutting emphasis on (i) wherever possible inviting scientists who have made
exceptional research contributions but are not “regulars on the conference circuit,” (ii) considering the
translational aspects of the work within the context of each session, (iii) emphasizing participation by junior
investigators and trainees and (iv) ensuring gender equality. Of the invited speakers more than half have
never spoken or attended an AGE meeting before.
AGE is a primary vehicle of career progression for young gerontologists. The New York meeting seeks to
enhance this by hosting special networking and data blitz sessions for pre-doctoral students, allowing them to
meet new collaborators and offering new pairings the opportunity to co-publish reviews in our journal
Geroscience (formally AGE, current impact factor= 3.45).