On April 13 and 14, AFAR co-hosted the Disease Drivers of Aging: 2016 Advances in Geroscience Summit in partnership with the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), The Trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group, and the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS).
Over 200 researchers, clinicians, and representatives from the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors from around the world convened at the New York Academy of Sciences to discuss advances in geroscience, the growing field of research that looks at the relationship between aging and disease.
Although older patients often experience several chronic diseases simultaneously, aging research traditionally has been separated from chronic disease research. Spearheaded by the Trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group (GSIG), a 2013 conference looked at how aging drives diseases. This year’s summit continued this discussion by exploring how diseases like Cancer, Heart Disease, and HIV/AIDS accelerate aging.
AFAR Scientific Director Steven Austad, PhD,
shared a keynote address, The Geroscience Hypothesis:
What Do We Know?
In addition to co-sponsoring the event, AFAR is proud that nine grantees and board members, including Board President Harvey Jay Cohen, MD, Deputy Scientific Director Nir Barzilai, MD, and Deputy Medical Officer Caroline Blaum, MD lent their expertise on panels.
View a range of images of AFAR speakers on Facebook.
For more on the conference, read these articles featured in the Herald Tribune and the Association of Health Care Journalist or read the New York Academy of Sciences event e-briefing here.
Studying diseases and the biological processes of aging together holds great promise not only for extending health as we age but also for better treating diseases common to aging. For more on Geroscience:
• Explore AFAR’s 2013 annual report, “Aging & the Promise of Geoscience” spotlighting the research of AFAR grantees on aging and Cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Diabetes.
• Watch Felipe Sierra of the Trans-NIH Geroscience Interest Group explain the exciting potential for geroscience here.
• Read an essay by Sierra in the AFAR-sponsored publication, “The Longevity Dividend: Geroscience meets Geropolitics."
