48th Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association - Project Summary
We are requesting funds to support the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association (AGE) to be
held at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, CA from May 30th to June 2nd in conjunction with
the Nathan Shock Centers for Excellence in Aging two-day ‘International Geroscience” meeting to be held at the
same venue from May 28th to 30th. This meeting is one of the premier meetings for biogerontological research
and is the only annual meeting sponsored by a professional membership organization devoted to the basic
biology of aging in the United States. The theme of the meeting is "Translating Aging Research". Dr. Heinrich
Jasper, President of AGE, together with the AGE Program Committee (Drs. Rozalyn Anderson, Brian Kennedy,
Dudley Lamming, Holly Brown Borg) in conjunction the directors of the Nathan Shock Centers for Excellence in
Aging, Session Chairs, and the AGE Executive Board have organized the scientific program. The overall
objective is to convene scientists and trainees from multiple disciplines in a forum for presentation and critical
debate of the latest discoveries in aging research and to stimulate forward thinking and collaboration among
participants. Funds are requested to help cover travel expenses of 1) invited speakers and 2) meritorious junior
scientists (students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty) who can benefit from exposure to the leaders of the
field, present their research findings and receive feedback from experts in the field. The specific goals of this
meeting are to assemble a broad-based forum of basic and clinical scientists to present the most recent findings
that have potential for development of therapeutics that may enhance quality and length of healthy life; to
encourage open discussion and debate; and provide opportunities for early stage investigators to present their
work, explore career options, and interact with potential mentors and collaborators. The invited speakers include
renowned as well as outstanding early career scientists in aging, and related disciplines selected for the quality
of their science and ability to stimulate debate. When selecting session topics, a particular effort was placed on
keeping with the meeting theme of translating aging research into therapeutic interventions to emphasize the
emerging translational potential of the basic discoveries for improving healthy aging in people. These include
recent high profile work on metabolism and dietary interventions, nuclear structure, cellular senescence and
inflammation, stem cells and regeneration, and efforts to perform interventional studies. The pre meeting, a
summit of thought leaders organized by the NIA and the Nathan Shock Centers will be devoted to discuss and
deepen acceptance of the Geroscience concept. We believe that all of the symposia topics are timely, and should
stimulate discussion, collaborative endeavors and the development of possible therapeutic targets.