National Geroscience Initiative
Scientific Review Panel
The following individuals served as members of the Scientific Review Panel for the White Paper (in alphabetical order)
David B. Allison, Ph.D. Dean, Indiana University School of Public Health
David B. Allison has focused his research on obesity, nutrition, and aging. He has served on numerous editorial boards that relate to obesity and nutrition, as well as the National Academy of Medicine within the National Academies and the Scientific Advisory Board for Nutrition Science Initiative. He has numerous publications on mice and their diet as it relates to aging. His recent study explored ingestion of senolytics (dasatbi and quercetin), and how they can eliminate naturally occurring senescent cells. These cells have shown to play a role in and facilitate aging in both young and older mice. Senolytics also serve to increase physical ability within both groups of mice when eliminating senescent cells.
https://publichealth.indiana.edu/research/faculty-directory/profile.html?user=allison
Joseph A. Baur, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
The Baur lab is interested in the basic mechanisms that lead to aging, the most important risk factor for many diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. Although the causes of aging are not known, it can be delayed experimentally in rodents by decreasing energy intake in the absence of malnutrition (caloric restriction, CR). Elucidating the mechanism(s) by which CR extends lifespan is expected to yield insights into the causes of aging and to highlight new therapeutic approaches to the prevention and treatment of age-related disease.
https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p8216891
Charles Bennett, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences (CPOS) College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina
Charles Bennett is a hematologist and oncologist, with a research background in cancer, mortality, disease, and adverse drug reactions. His research in mortality-to incidence ratios in prostate cancer patients gave insight into the demographics who were more and less likely to die from prostate cancer. The focus being South Carolina veterans explored the importance of neighborhood level-risk factors and risk related to race among these men. Similarly, his research in adverse drug reactions enhances the importance of FDA approval, clinical testing, product withdrawals and box warnings for medications used to treat to patients with serious or chronic medical conditions. These methods of review for treatment can increase lifespan in individuals who have serious or chronic conditions, despite their disease.
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/pharmacy/faculty-staff/bennett_charlie.php
Sebastian Brandhorst, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Gerontology, University of Southern California
Dr. Brandhorst has scientific training in cell biology, molecular biology, medicine, and biochemistry, all of which are highly relevant to his focus on biogerontology research to identify the mechanisms underlying cellular protection, as well as health- and lifespan-regulation, and their translation into clinical applications. Dr. Brandhorst has performed research related to aging in yeast and C. elegans since 2009, after which he began to utilize mouse models to study the role of growth hormone/Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling as a major regulatory pathway that modulates lifespan and age-associated diseases/pathologies; particularly cancer. Subsequently, he focused on the role and application of short-term starvation, low calorie and/or low protein diets and fasting-mimicking diets on health and lifespan in pre-clinical to clinical
Beth Calhoun, Ph.D., MEd.
Associate Dean for Population Health, Professor of Population Health University of Kansas School of Medicine
Beth Calhoun’s expertise in minority health and health disparities has engaged many in the importance of equity within medical care. While the extent to which race and sex play a role in the disparities of health services among various communities, Dr. Calhoun has investigated the biases of healthcare workers who are responsible for treating minority groups, specifically in heart failure. Among others, instances of excess critique towards women, questions of social support towards African American patients, and appropriateness of care were all found within her study. Biases among healthcare workers towards their patients can severely impact the treatment methods and care their patients receive, ultimately playing a role in the extent of their lifespan.
https://pophealth.uahs.arizona.edu/people/elizabeth-calhoun-phd-med
Alan Cash
Founder & CEO, Terra Biological LLC
Alan Cash serves as the founder and CSO at Terra Biological, a company focused on enhancing lifespan through pharmaceutical development. His research methodology of molecular and genomic mechanisms, and their effects on aging. Specifically, he found the only thing to slow down again within animals was a caloric restriction, and the metabolic pathway’s presence of NADH and NAD+ were responsible for decreasing or increasing lifespan respectively. Furthermore, his extraction of oxaloacetate, a metabolite produced in the Krebs Cycle, was able to increase NAD+ and decrease NADH, increasing lifespan in animals by 25 to 50%. Oxaloacetate also showed to be useful in reducing brain cancer, ALS, and Alzheimer’s, as well as delaying a number of other diseases that are related to aging.
Pinchas Cohen, M.D.
Dean, University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
As the Dean of USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Pinchas Cohn has led many initiatives involving aging, diabetes, neurodegeneration, and cancer. His primary focus involves studying mitochondria-derived peptides, including a) humanin, b) MOTS-c, and c) SHLP2. Humanin, encoded from the mt-16S-rRNA, is a 24-amino acid peptide that acts as an insulin sensitizer and metaboloprotective factor within the body, playing. Key role in the fight against diabetes and other age-related diseases. Second, MOTS-c, a mitochondrial peptide encoded from a small ORF within the 12S region of the mitochondrial chromosome, has shown to play a critical role in reducing diabetes and obesity effects by acting as a mimetic to exercise. Lastly, SHLP2, which is encoded from the light strand of the mt-16s-rRNA region, has metabolic levels that lie connect with prostate cancer.
Rory Cooper Ph.D. FISA/PVA Distinguished Professor, Past Chair, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, Professor of Bioengineering, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Orthopedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh
Rory Cooper has a focus in Veterans Affairs and rehabilitation. As a veteran himself, he is responsible for the creation of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories and the VA Center for Wheelchairs and Associated Rehabilitation Engineering, granting veterans to any assistive medical technology they could need after serving overseas. He holds 25 patents in wheelchair technology, including the a) MEBot, a stair-climbing wheelchair, b) PneuChair, a chair powered solely by compressed air, and c) Virtual Seating Coach, which helps control a wheelchair from the persons smartphone. These mobility devices and assistive technologies are, in part, responsible for increasing the quality of life for aging and disabled veterans and humans.
Eileen Crimmins, Ph.D, Professor, AARP Chair in Gerontology Director, Multidisciplinary Research Training in Gerontology PhD Program Director, USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health
Eileen Crimmins serves as the director of the USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health, investigating the changes of health and mortality over time. Her work with measurements of biological indicators in large populations has shown to explain many factors that we question when related to life-expectancy Her work with the Committee for the National Academy of Sciences has addressed the issues within the United States’ life-expectancy and how it relates to the rest of the world. Her focus on longevity, international aging, health and lifespan has all impacted the study of gerontology as a whole.
Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D. Professor, Department of Developmental & Molecular Biology, Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology, Department of Medicine – Hepatology
Robert and Renee Belfer Chair for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Ana Maria Cuervo has an extensive background in molecular and structural biology. After starting her lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she has studied the role of protein-degradation in age and related diseases or disorders, specifically affecting neurodegeneration the metabolic pathway. Her studies have found a link between altering the autophagy of lysosomal proteins and the appearance of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s diseases. She has also shown that restoration of normal lysosomal function can prevent a buildup of damaged proteins and minimize the presence or effects of these age-related diseases. In addition, autophagy has been shown to relate to the glucose and lipid metabolism, and aging can slow down autophagic pathways, resulting in metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity in older individuals.
Rafael de Cabo, Ph.D., Branch Chief of the Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Senior Investigator, National Institute of Health
After receiving his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Cordoba, Spain, Dr. de Cabo earned his Ph.D. in 2000 from the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University. Upon completion of his graduate education, he received a postdoctoral position in the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2004, he was appointed as a tenure track investigator in the Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology, where he now heads the Aging, Metabolism, and Nutrition Unit (AMNU). The AMNU applies both physiological and tissue-specific molecular approaches to investigate effects of nutritional interventions on basic mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases. Research within his unit strives to identify protective mechanisms invoked by caloric restriction and to evaluate the consequences of dietary interventions on lifespan, pathology, and behavioral function. The AMNU balances the exploration of in vivo rodent, as well as in vitro, paradigms of caloric restriction. Dr. de Cabo is an active member of the Board of the American Aging Association
Elissa Epel, Ph.D., Professor, and Vice Chair Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
Elissa Epel has focused her efforts on the psychological, social and behavioral impacts on the fight against aging. Her goal in research is to elicit mechanisms of healthy again and interventions to impact cellular aging. Her work has looked at the interconnections of stress, addiction, eating, and metabolic health and how they affect cellular aging. She has proposed treatments of mindfulness training and self-regulation to effect cellular aging, weight, diet, and glucose control. Her continued advancements towards understanding the psychological effects on aging have earned her the APA Early Career Award and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research Neal Miller Young Investigator Award.
Luigi Ferruci, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Director, National Institute on Aging Senior Investigator, Longitudinal Studies Section, NIH
As a geriatrician and epidemiologist, Luigi Ferrucci has worked in longitudinal studies of aging for many years. He has played important roles in the advancements of epidemiology and demography as they relate to aging across the US and Europe, including studies such as the European Longitudinal Study on Aging, the “ICare Dicomano Study, and others. His research involves investigating the casual pathways leading to physical and cognitive decline in older individuals. He’s continued his efforts to understanding the process of aging in both the United States, where he serves as Scientific Director for the NIA, and in Italy, where he conducts many studies on the older generations living in Tuscany and Florence.
Don Ingram, Ph.D.
Professor (ret.) Nutritional Neuroscience and Aging, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University School of Medicine
Dr. Ingram has held several positions at PBRC including Adjunct Professor, School of Human Ecology and has served on the Steering Committee, Director, Animal Metabolism and Behavior Core. He was President of the Gerontological Society of America between 2010 and 2011 and is currently Professor in the Geriatrics Section, Department of Internal Medicine, LSUHSC-New Orleans, LA. Dr. Ingram’s research has focused on nutritional and pharmacological interventions designed to slow the rate of aging and thus reduce the risk of age-related disease and functional decline. The major area of investigation involves in vivo rodent models and in vitro cellular models to identify protective mechanisms invoked by calorie restriction.
https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/internal_medicine/faculty_detail.aspx?name=ingram_don
Jamie Nicole Justice, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Dr. Justice work focuses on targeting biological aging processes to prevent or delay functional decline and age-related chronic diseases collectively, rather than one at a time. Her research training that spans disciplines, species, and intervention strategies. Current research includes: 1) efforts launch the clinical trial, Targeting Aging with MEtformin (TAME), which is designed to facilitate regulatory approval for the use of a drug for the purpose of slowing aging; 2) development of biomarkers of biological aging; 3) investigating the therapeutic potential of targeting the biologic aging hallmark cellular senescence in humans.
https://school.wakehealth.edu/Faculty/J/Jamie-Nicole-Justice
Tom Kalil
Chief Innovation Officer, Schmidt Futures
Tom Kalil, currently serving as the CIO for Schmidt Futures, previously served two presidents of the United States in assisting them to launch scientific and technological initiatives in areas such as nanotechnology, neuroscience, data science and robotics, and more. Under the Obama Administration, he worked to develop the BRAIN initiative, and intensive research project working to understand brain function using innovative technologies and nanotechnology. These methods have been used by researchers in investigating new ways to diagnose, treat, cure, and even potentially prevent brain disorders by expanding the knowledge on brain processing, storage, transmission and utilization of information. The impact of this initiative has been critical in the development of brain mapping and in the further investigation of neurological disorders, specifically affecting an aging population.
Jim Kirkland, M.D., MSc., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Professor of Physiology, Mayo Clinic
The majority of Jim Kirkland’s research efforts has been surrounding cellular aging (senescence) and its impact on age-related chronic diseases and dysfunction. Specifically, his work focuses on removing senescent cells to alleviate the effects of these cells when they accumulate in the body. A discovery in studies of mice have shown that the presence of senescent cells has decreased their life-expectancy, compared to mice with fewer senescent cells. His team partnered with the Mayo Clinic to develop a drug that attacks these senescent cells in the mice and activates a suicide gene within the cells, eliminating them from the body and increasing lifespan. Further research shows an overwhelming presence of senescent cells within fatty tissue of the body, linking them to obesity and diabetes, both of which ultimately decrease lifespan. Dr. Kirkland has made major strides in research on senescent cells and continues to work to eliminate these cells from humans through developing interventions to directly target senescent cells and how removing senescent cells will ultimately affect chronic disorders and frailty in the body.
https://www.mayo.edu/research/faculty/kirkland-james-l-m-d-ph-d/bio-00096544
Ronald A. Kohanski, Ph.D., Director Designate of the Division of Aging Biology, National Institute on Aging
Ronald Kohanski has research interests in numerous areas of biology of aging, enzymology and developmental biology. His research in regenerative biology and medicine takes effect through the use of heterochronic parabiosis and heterochronic blood exchange, which were found to assist older animals in responding to “youthful signals” in the brain. This is just one effort in his quest to understand functional decline and heterogeneity of aging among human populations. His work with the NIA’s Longevity Assurance Genes and DAB program work to use aging rates as a principle in investigative research, including understanding influences of genetics, environments, diets, and pharmaceuticals in all studies. Prior to joining the NIA and focusing his research attention on aging, Dr. Kohanski worked on the developmental biology of insulin and its relation to enzymes.
Nathan K. LeBrasseur, PT, Ph.D., M.S.
Associate Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic
Dr. LeBrasseur studies the genes and signaling pathways influencing skeletal muscle growth and metabolism, and how their manipulation — by genetic alteration, diet, drugs or exercise — affects these physiological processes. He examines how beneficial and maladaptive alterations in muscle quantity, quality or both impact muscle performance and physical function as well as metabolic homeostasis.
Dr. LeBrasseur's goal is to identify safe and effective ways to counter the loss of skeletal muscle with advancing age (sarcopenia) and numerous diseases (cachexia) as a means to improve health span, and to enhance the metabolic properties of muscle to ameliorate type 2 diabetes mellitus and its comorbidities.
https://www.mayo.edu/research/faculty/lebrasseur-nathan-k-ph-d-m-s/bio-00055041
Morgan Levine, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pathology & Epidemiology (Chronic Disease) Yale University School of Medicine
Morgan Levine integrates the use of statistical genetics, computational biology, and mathematical demography in her studies at Yale University. Her primary research includes the development of biomarkers to indicate aging in human and animal models, through the use of omics data. She has been able to develop risk stratifications for major chronic diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer’s, specifically by tracking epigenetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes with the aging timeline. Her research has been applied to a multitude of other aging studies, since she has been able to develop a number of tools to measure aging and aging outcomes. She is associated with the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, the Yale School of Medicine Genomics, Genetics and Epigenetics program, the Yale School of Public Health Chronic Disease Epidemiology program, and many other departments and organizations.
Valter Longo, Ph.D.
Professor of Gerontology & Biological Sciences, Edna M. Jones Chair in Gerontology, University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
As an Italian biologist, Valter Longo has expertise in areas of cell biology and genetics, regulation of aging and stress resistance, Alzheimer’s, Cancer and diabetes research. His primary research goal is understanding the fundamental mechanisms of aging, specifically in yeast, mice, and humans. Genetic and biochemistry techniques have assisted in further investigation of these mechanisms. Similarly, he has interest in identifying the molecular pathways and their changing nature when implemented with stressors that lead to the development of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and other aging associated disorders. He hopes to configure the metabolic pathway so that it can be protected against these stressors and cancer and Alzheimer’s can be prevented and treated.
Lester Martinez-Lopez MD MPH
Major General (ret.), Chairman, Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium
As a retired Major General, Lester Martinez-Lopez made history as the first Hispanic to head the Army Medical Research and Material Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland. He was responsible for directing the Army’s worldwide medical research, acquisition and logistics program and has research experience in cancer, trauma, infectious disease, biodefense, nutrition, telemedicine and many other avenues. He was director of the national biological and chemical defense laboratories and research programs. He currently serves as chairman for the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium, who works alongside the Army’s Medical Research and Development Command, to collaborate on expansion projects and biomedical research in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious disease; clinical and rehabilitative medicine; advanced medical technology; and more.
Sajish Mathew, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina
Dr. Mathew received his Ph.D. at the Institute of Technology, Kanpur in his native India before completing his post-doctoral fellowship at the Scripts Research Institute in La Jola, Ca. He has done significant work elucidating important mediators of cellular aging and his current research focus is on understanding and exploring the potential of NAD+ metabolism and signaling through SIRTuins and PARPs in the regulation of the newly identified biology of tRNA synthetases.
https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/pharmacy/faculty-staff/sajish_mathew.php
Tom Misteli, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH
A renowned cell biologist who is responsible for the use of imaging approaches in the study of genomes and genome expression, Tom Misteli currently uses these techniques within his laboratory to understand the principles of genome architecture and use its makeup to uncover diagnostic and therapeutic treatments for cancer and aging. He uses cell biological, molecular, biochemical and imaging approaches to unveil these genomes within the body and live-cell microscopy to understand the organization and functions of genomes and their components within the cell. Through the understanding of placement and function of these components, he is able to identify defects within the genome that are responsible for a multitude of human diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and muscular dystrophies, all of which are associated with aging. These defects can serve as a foundation for diagnostic approaches and clinical applications within cancer and neurodegenerative research, ultimately affecting aging outcomes.
https://ccr.cancer.gov/laboratory-of-receptor-biology-and-gene-expression/tom-misteli
John Newman, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging
Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatrics, University of California, San Francisco
The Newman Lab within the Buck Institute for Research on Aging has a focus within understanding how cellular metabolism interacts with the genes and pathways that regulate aging. More specifically, John Newman works to investigate the roles of metabolites and their involvement within signaling pathways linked with healthy practices, such as exercise, fasting, and caloric restrictions. By exposing metabolites such as acetyl-CoA and NAD+, Dr. Newman can utilize them in regulating stressors and health span. Additionally, the emergence of ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate, a ketone that not only engages fat as fuel within the body but also acts as a signal for control of gene expression, inflammation, and metabolism. He has utilized these ketones to protect the brain against memory decline and Alzheimer’s and well as promote overall health and well-being among older generations.
Paul F. Pasquina, MD
Professor & Chair, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Uniformed Services University, Chief, Department of Rehabilitation, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Defense Health Agency
Paul Pasquina graduated from West Point and served as Army colonel from 1986 to 1999. Following his retirement, he engaged in research focused on enhancing the recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration of traumatic brain injuries and trauma suffered by those in combat and with combat casualties. His assistance in amputee care included the clinical use of the first motorized lower limb prostheses, enhanced upper limb prostheses, and implantable microelectrodes that can operate a prosthetic device. He also works in sports medicine, with a primary focus in TBI rehabilitation through the use of brain fitness labs, musculoskeletal clinics, and a multitude of other community outreach programs to assist in safe recovery for all those injured in combat.
Harris Pastides, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Former President, University of South Carolina
As the president emeritus of the University of South Carolina, Harris Pastides implemented a number of outstanding programs within the university during his time. Prior to serving 11 years as president, he was the dean of the Arnold School of Public Health and was the Vice President of Research and Health Sciences within the school. He is the only non-physician member of the American Medical Association Board and serves as the current chair of the US Fulbright Advisory Council. His time as president at the University of South Carolina included increased research funding, greater ranking for a number of programs and the passing of a $1 billion capital campaign goal.
https://www.ama-assn.org/about/board-trustees/harris-pastides-phd-mph
Eric Perakslis Ph.D.
Chief Science & Digital Officer, Duke Clinical Research Institute
Eric Perakslis has a Ph.D. in chemical and biochemical engineering and currently serves as the Chief Science and Digital Officer for Duke’s Clinical Research Institute. His research focus is on collaborative efforts pertaining to data science in medicine, policy, engineering, and more. He has previously been involved in developing the Department of Biomedical Informatics as an academic department at Harvard Medical School and developing the NIH’s Undiagnosed Disease Network. His work across numerous institutions has led to expanding technology efforts for Ebola response programs, building active research programs in medical product development, and cyber security enhancements.
Arlan Richardson, Ph.D., Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair of Aging Research Reynolds Oklahoma Center on Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Arlan Richardson has spent 40 years dedicated to aging research. His research has focused on various aging avenues such as a) effects of aging and dietary restriction on gene expression in rats and mice, b) testing the oxidative stress theory of aging by measuring the effects of alterations in the antioxidant defense system on the lifespan and pathology of transgenic and knockout mice, and c) studying the effect of rapamycin on aging and age-related diseases. He pioneered the idea that dietary restriction showed alterations within gene expression due to changes in transcription factors. His use of transgenic and knockout models with changing antioxidant defense systems, including transgenic/knockout mice for catalase, Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase, Mn-superoxide dismutase, thioredoxin, glutathione peroxidase 1 and 4, and methionine sulfoxide dismutase, show various effects on how increased or decreased oxidative damage plays a role in survival and lifespan.
https://www.ouhsc.edu/roca/Our-People/Profile-Page/arlan-richardson-phd-1
Kenneth S. Ramos, MD, PhD
Executive Director Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology
Alkek Chair and Professor of Medical Genetics, Texas A&M College of Medicine Associate Vice President for Research Texas A&M University Health Science Center Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Services The Texas A&M University System
Kenneth Ramos has formal training in pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology and medicine. He is an accomplished physician-scientist and recognized globally for his contributions in genomics, precision medicine and toxicology. His goal is to elucidate genomic mechanisms of disease affecting aging populations and develop therapeutic treatments for disease related to oncology, pulmonary and cardiovascular pathways. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Institute of Biosciences and Technology and the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Services at Texas A&M University.
Felipe Sierra, Ph.D.
Former Director, National Institute on Aging – Division of Aging Biology
Trained as a biochemist in his native Chile, he obtained a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Florida in 1983. After a postdoc at the University of Geneva, he worked in industry (at Nestlé, still in Switzerland) for the next 5 years. At this stage he developed his interest in the biology of aging, an interest that brought him back to Academia (and to the United States), as an Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and later as an Associate Professor at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research in Pennsylvania. This last position was shared with a primary appointment at the University of Chile in Santiago. Four years after initiating this arrangement, Dr. Sierra relocated again to the US, this time as a Program Director within the Division of Aging Biology, NIA. He became the Director of this unit in April 2006. Dr. Sierra is also the founder and coordinator of the trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group (GSIG). The group spans the entire NIH, and is built on the fact that aging is the major risk factor for most chronic age-related diseases – Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and more – and thus understanding the basic biology of aging is central to our ability to address these diseases. In 2013 and 2014 he received NIH Director’s Awards for this effort.
Carrie Sims, M.D., Ph.D. FACS Director, Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University
Carrie Sims currently serves as a practicing surgeon in plastic and burn care and the director of Department of Surgery Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn at The Ohio State University. Prior to this, she was a member of the Division of Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, where she assisted in designing and running the Penn Acute Research Collaboration, responsible for providing translational research lab assistance to clinicians and clinical investigators in acute pathologies. She continues to practice medicine, get involved in research, give guest lectures, and provided mentorship all in the field of emergency surgery and critical care.
https://medicine.osu.edu/departments/surgery/news/new-director
William Kennedy Smith M.D., FAAPMR
Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Adjunct Assistant Professor
University of South Carolina, College of Pharmacy
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Daniel Larry Smith, Ph.D
Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. Smith’s research focuses on nutrition and metabolism in relationship to aging and disease using a number of model organisms including budding yeast, zebrafish, and rodents. He is currently exploring non-invasive methods to quantify and study brown adipose tissue in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging, high-throughput quantitative methods to study the effect of nutrition on cellular lifespan using the yeast model and dietary interventions/optimization in both zebrafish and mice to increase lifespan and prevent disease.
Michael Stebbins, Ph.D., President, Science Advisors LLC
Michael Stebbins currently serves as a geneticist and formerly served as a public policy advisor and Assistant Director for the Biotechnology in the White House Office of Science and Technology under the Obama Administration. He founded a science and health consulting firm in 2018, focused on providing guidance to companies and organizations on the topic of science, technology, and public policy. He developed eight Executive Orders involving antibiotic resistance issues and pollinator health restoration in US during his time at the White House. His work involved increasing access to federally funded scientific research publications, improving scientific reproducibility and preferential purchasing of antibiotic free meats, among many other things.
Jeremy D. Walston, M.D.
Raymond and Anna Lublin Professor of Geriatric Medicine Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Jeremy Walston has made research efforts in determining the biological characteristics that promote resiliency and healthy aging, as well as the translation of these ideas into diagnostic, preventative and treatment efforts to promote increased lifespan and health span. His previous research discovered the most commonly utilized measurement of frailty in older adults as well as the presence of dysregulated energy metabolism and stress response pathways in relation to frailty. He still practices clinically in geriatric medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University. He hopes to continue efforts in studies changes in resiliency and presence of frailty in older adults coming from mechanisms, such as inflammation levels, mitochondria, and to the renin-angiotensin system
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/jeremy-walston
Yetsa A. Tuakli-Wosornu, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Research Scientist in Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases), Yale University School of Public Health
Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu currently practices as a physiatrist, or a physician in physical medicine and rehabilitation. She specializes in interventional spine and sports medicine treatments, using image-guided joint and spin injections of platelet-rich plasma and regenerative treatment to heal injuries. Her research is based in the Sports Equity Lab at Yale University, involving dismantling sports inequities and amplifying sports as appositive influence in society.
Y. Tony Yang, ScD, LLM, MPH Executive Director, Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement George Washington University School of Nursing Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University
Y. Tony Yang has scholarly interest in policy issues connecting legality to health systems. His focus in vaccination law and policy, pharmaceutical and FDA-regulation of products, medical malpractice and maternity care all carry a statistical and econometrical framework. His expertise in Food and Drug Safety, Immunization Law and Policy, and Population Health, among other things, have allowed him to make great strides in policy implementation regarding these topics.
https://publichealth.gwu.edu/departments/health-policy-and-management/y-tony-yang
Joon Yun M.D., President and Managing Partner Palo Alto Investors LP
Joon Yun serves as the president and managing partner of Palo Alto Investors LP, a hedge fund related to healthcare. He serves as a Trustee a the Salk Institute and a member of the President’s Circle of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. He has made donations of $1 million through the Palo Alto Longevity Prize and $2 million to the National Academy of Medicine to launch the Aging and Longevity Grant Challenge in an effort to reverse the aging process.