A Real Boost for Aging Research

Friday, June 27th I attended Aging 2008 - Aging: the Disease, the Cure, the Implications at UCLA. It was sponsored by Dr. Aubrey de Grey and the Methuselah Foundation. About 700 people attended a stimulating three hour session featuring an All-Star lineup of aging researchers, advocates and personalities.

Most of the attendees spent the next couple of hours networking at an outdoor dinner. In my opinion, some of the more important and interesting people in the world were there, including some movers and shakers who are launching exciting companies and research projects – projects that could have a big impact on your health and longevity.

Here is a list of the speakers:
Dr. Bruce Ames, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley
G. Steven Burrill, Chairman of Pharmasset and Chairman of Campaign for Medical Research
Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Chairman and CSO of Methuselah Foundation and author of Ending Aging
Dr. William Haseltine, Chairman of Haseltine Global Health
Daniel Perry, Executive Director of Alliance for Aging Research
Bernard Siegel, Executive Director of Genetics Policy Institute
Dr. Gregory Stock, Director of Program on Medicine, Technology & Society at UCLA School of Medicine
Dr. Michael West, CEO of BioTime and Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley
I also got a Methuselah Foundation T-shirt, one of the coolest T-shirts I ever saw.

Aging 2008 was the opening session for the technically focused Understanding Aging conference which took place Saturday and Sunday. Thirty four scientists presented over the weekend. I believe this was the most extensive scientific longevity conference ever held in the US. Hopefully, the Methuselah Foundation will offer videos.

Open-forum events like this enable scientists to bounce ideas of one another, to cross pollinate ideas and to open up various research programs to debate and scrutiny. As a result, it fast tracks longevity research. Congratulations to Aubrey de Grey and all the Methuselah Foundation volunteers who made it happen.

Then last week, I attended a presentation to an investment banker to fund two very progressive adult stem cell companies. He made a verbal commitment, and funding might take place as early as this month. Once these companies are launched, human therapies could be accelerated. That could translate to the first round of therapies becoming available by next year. Anti-aging science is ratcheted up one more notch.
All-in-all that was a very productive week for life extension. Let’s look forward to many more.