EVENT

The James A. Aleveras Formal Research Seminars

The Buck Institute hosts regular virtual seminars throughout the year from national and international scientists to Buck faculty, students and postdoctoral fellows to share related areas of research.  These seminars are not currently open to the public.

For Buck Scientists only

Fridays at 11:00am in Drexler Auditorium

The James A. Aleveras Formal Research Seminar is supported by a generous donation from Jim Aleveras, prior Buck board member, in honor of his father.  Jim previously managed Chevron Corporation’s global pension assets and was subsequently a Portfolio Manager with JP Morgan Securities. Jim holds undergraduate and MBA degrees from Stanford University, as well as a PhD.  He is a long-time supporter of the Buck, and we are deeply grateful for his support.  Jim’s father, James A. Aleveras, was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and a decorated veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. After his retirement, he was active for three decades in volunteer and community service in Southern California. His interest in health and wellness encouraged Jim to follow a path that led to the Buck.

2024 Seminars

Friday, June 28, 2024

Moving beyond amyloid and tau to capture the biological heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s disease using induced pluripotent stem cells

Tracy Young-Pearse, PhD

Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Hosted by Tara Tracy

Distinguished Lecture Series (Past)

October 9, 2020

Uncovering the role of Alzheimer’s disease risk genes using stem cells and human brains

Li-Huei Tsai, PhD

Neuroscientist and Director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Hosted by Tara Tracy

January 17, 2020

Signals and forces patterning the intestinal smooth muscle

Cliff Tabin

Chairman and Professor, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School; Adjunct Professor of Health Sciences & Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Hosted by Rachel Brem

April 12, 2019

Stem cells in silence, action and cancer

Elaine Fuchs

HHMI Investigator, Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, Lab of Mammalian Cell Biology & Development, HHMI, The Rockefeller University

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

FRS Speakers (Past)

Monday, May 20, 2024

Dysregulation of Endolysosomal pH Homeostasis In Aging - A (The?) Root Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease

Joachim Herz, MD

Professor, Departments of Molecular Genetics, Neuroscience, and Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Hosted by Eric Verdin

May 10, 2024

Towards Healthy Longevity: Strategies for Combating Age-Related Eye Diseases

Koji Kitazawa, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

Hosted by Pierre Desprez

April 5, 2024

Ribosomes in Gene Regulation: Controlling the diversity of proteins in specific cells, tissues, and organisms

Maria Barna, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Stanford University

Hosted by Kai Zhou

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Chaperone-assisted protein folding in health and disease

Ulrich Hartl, MD

Professor, Department of Cellular Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany

Hosted by Malene Hansen

Friday, March 22, 2024

The velocity of life — investigating the temporal dynamics of molecules, cells, and organisms by single-cell genomics

Junyue Cao, PhD

Professor, Dept. of Single-Cell Genomics and Population Dynamics, The Rockefeller University

Hosted by Kai Zhou

Friday, March 8, 2024

Mechanisms of molecular chaperones in health and disease

Bernd Bukau, PhD

Professor, Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), Heidelberg, Germany

Hosted by Kai Zhou

Feb 9, 2024

Brain-Body Pathways Controlling Femail Physiology

Holly Ingraham, PhD

Herzstein Endowed Professor, Cellular Molecular Pharmacology, School of Medicine, UCSF

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

Feb 2, 2024

Characterizing genetic variations associated with neuropsychiatric diseases

Yin Shen, PhD

Associate Professor, Institute for Human Genetics, Department of Neurology, UCSF

Hosted by Tara Tracy

Jan 19, 2024

A proteomic perspective on brain and cell aging

Alessandro Ori, PhD

Senior Principal Scientist, Dept. of Microchemistry, Proteomics & Lipidomics + Next Generation Sequencing, Genentech

Hosted by Malene Hansen

Oct 27, 2023

Hongjie Li, phD

Time Flies, How? Unlocking the Secrets of Aging

Assistant Professor, Huffington Center on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine

Hosted by Pejmun Haghighi

OCT 20, 2023

DNA damage signaling to mitochondria in neurodegeneration and aging

Vilhelm A. Bohr, MD, PhD, DSc

Professor, Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen

Hosted by Malene Hansen

OCT 6, 2023

Countering deleterious phase transitions in neurodegenerative disease

James Shorter, PhD

Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of Pennsylvania

Hosted by Kai Zhou

Sept 22, 2023

Encoding Memory in Amyloid

Kausik Si, PhD

Investigator & Scientific Director, Stowers Institute for Medical Research

Hosted by Kai Zhou

Aug 24, 2023

Age and Experience in the Germline

Diana Laird, PhD

Professor, Eli & Edythe Broad Center for Regeneration Medicine and Department of ObGyn, UCSF

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

May 26, 2023

An insulin/IGF receptor kinase insert domain regulates Drosophila lifespan through methionine cycle metabolic reprogramming

Marc Tatar, PhD

Professor, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Brown University

Hosted by Gordon Lithgow and Julie Andersen

May 19, 2023

Retrotransposons as agents of aging and disease

Stephen Helfand, MD

Associate Director for Research, Professor of Biology, Dept. of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University

Hosted by Pankaj Kapahi

May 5, 2023

Igniting an immune response to DNA with cGAS

Zhijian “James” Chen, PhD

Professor of Molecular Biology
University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center

Hosted by Kai Zhou

April 14, 2023

Geroscience-Oriented Human Trials

Nicolas Musi, MD

Professor and Director, Center on Aging and Metabolism, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Hosted by Julie Andersen and Gordon Lithgow

Mar 17, 2023

Molecular effectors of physical activity

Jonathan Long, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pathology and ChEM-H Institute Scholar, Stanford University

Hosted by Pankaj Kapahi

March 3, 2023

Fertility, Immunity & Longevity: Burning Fat, Breaking Dogmas

Arjumand Ghazi, PhD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Developmental Biology & Physiology, University of Pittsburg, School of Medicine

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

Feb 17, 2023

Conditional mitochondrial mRNA localization: connecting mitochondrial composition to growth and metabolism

Brian Zid, PhD

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, UC San Diego

Hosted by Pankaj Kapahi

Jan 13, 2023

Impact of endocrine aging on the human brain

Emily Jacobs, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

Nov 18, 2022

RNA Editing, Innate Immunity, and Inflammation

Jin Billy Li, PhD

Associate Professor of Genetics, Stanford University

Hosted by Kai Zhou

Oct 7, 2022

Alzheimer’s Disease is caused by the chronic dysregulation and weakening of innate immunity and the BBB via the underexpression, degradation and inactivation of innate immune proteins including LL-37 and ApoE

Annelise Barron, PhD

Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Stanford University

Hosted by Julie Andersen

March 4, 2022

Mitigating Brain Aging

Joel Kramer, PsyD

Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology
Director of the Memory and Aging Center Neuropsychology Program, UCSF

Hosted by Tara Tracy

Jan 21, 2022

The 4D Nucleome of Gene Regulation in Stem Cell and Regeneration

Yauri Diao, PhD

Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine

Hosted by Kai Zhou, PhD

June 4, 2021

Inosine RNA modifications in oocytes

Pavla Brachova, PhD

Research Assistant Professor, University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology

Hosted by Buck Assistant Professor, Jennifer Garrison, and Assistant Professor in Residence, Francesca Duncan

May 21, 2021

Mitochondrial Behavior

Jodi Nunnari, PhD

Distinguished Professor and Chair, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis

Hosted by Buck Fellow, Kai Zhou

May 14, 2021

Niche control of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation

Ting Xie, PhD

Division Head and Kerry Holdings Professor of Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Hosted by Buck Fellow, Kai Zhou

April 16, 2021

Dynamics of muscle stem cells in tissue growth and repair

Alessandra Sacco, PhD

Associate Professor
Development, Aging and Regeneration Program
Neuroscience and Aging Research Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys, Medical Discovery Institute

Hosted by Buck Professor, Simon Melov

April 9, 2021

Pharmacologic Adaptation of Proteostasis to Ameliorate Aging-associated Degenerative Diseases

Jeff Kelly, PhD

Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor
of Chemistry, The Scaggs Institute for Chemical Biology / The Scripps Research Institute

Hosted by Buck Fellow, Kai Zhou

April 2, 2021

Anatomical Biology as a Key into Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Aging

Scott A. Small, MD

Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
Boris and Rose Katz Professor of Neurology
Columbia University, NY

Hosted by Buck professor, Pankaj Kapahi

March 19, 2021

Immunesenescence: Consequences within and without the immune system

Janet Lord, PhD

Director of the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, England

Hosted by Buck Professor, Gordon Lithgow

March 5, 2021

New ways to prevent protein aggregation inside and outside the cell

Della C. David, PhD

Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry, University of Tuebingen, Germany

Hosted by Buck Professor, Gordon Lithgow

February 26, 2021

Intertwined Roles of Two Parkinson’s Disease Genes in Autophagy of Mitochondria and Inflammation

Richard J. Youle, PhD

Senior Investigator, Biochemistry Section, Porter Neuroscience Research Center, National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke, Bethesda, MD

Hosted by Buck Fellow, Kai Zhou

January 15, 2021

Systems Approach to Identify Resilience-based Targets for Aging and Alzheimer’s

Catherine Kaczorowski, PhD

Associate Professor and Evnin Family Chair in Alzheimer’s Research, The Jackson Laboratory

Hosted by Buck Professor, Pankaj Kapahi

November 20, 2020

Targeting hypothalamic microglia to regulate energy and glucose homeostasis

Martin Valdearcos Contreras, PhD

Assistant Adjunct Professor, Diabetes Center, UCSF

Hosted by Buck Professor, Pankaj Kapahi

October 23, 2020

Perception and response to metabolic stress

Scott Leiser, PhD

Assistant Professor Molecular & Integrative Physiology and Internal Medicine, University of Michigan

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

September 18, 2020

Counting mitochondria via the mitochondrial UPR: Do old cells lose count?

Cole Haynes, PhD

Professor of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, Univ. of Massachusetts Medical School

Hosted by Kai Zhou

September 11, 2020

Mutagenesis screens define unexpected roles of metabolism and protein synthesis in longevity

Martin Denzel, PhD

Professor of Metabolic and Genetic Regulation of Ageing, Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

September 4, 2020

How neurons bend without breaking

Miriam Goodman, PhD

Professor and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

August 21, 2020

From Football Players To Aging Brains: The Role of The Blood Brain Barrier

Daniela Kaufer, PhD

Associate Dean, Biological Sciences and Professor, Department of Integrative Biology and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley.

Hosted by Eric Verdin

July 17, 2020

Cellular recycling: role of autophagy in aging and disease

Malene Hansen, PhD

Professor, Faculty Advisor, Postdoctoral Training and Associate Dean, Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Hosted by Eric Verdin

February 21, 2020

Interactions and Polymorphisms of Protein Aggregates in Neurodegenerative Disease: Implications for Drug Development

Rakez Kayed, PhD

Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, Cell Biology & Anatomy, Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch

Hosted by Tara Tracy

February 7, 2020

Mechanisms of pathogenesis tauopathies

Karen Duff, PhD

Professor, UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, University College London

Hosted by Tara Tracy

January 24, 2020

Metabolic Signatures of Mating, Sex Peptide and Mifepristone/RU486 in Female Drosophila

John Tower, PhD

Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California

Hosted by Pejmun Haghighi

January 10, 2020

Making a break for it: meiotic DSBs and germline DNA repair

Judith Yanowitz, PhD

Associate Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Magee-Womens Research Institute and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

November 15, 2019

Fast Mimicking Diets, Regeneration, and Age-related Diseases

Valter Longo, PhD

Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology, Professor of Biological Sciences, USC Longevity Institute

Hosted by Eric Verdin

November 8, 2019

Messenger RNA translation and oocyte competence to develop as an embryo: a genome-wide perspective

Marco Conti, MD

Professor & Director, Fred Gellert Chair in Reproductive Medicine & Biology, Center for Reproductive Sciences and the Eli and the Edythe Broad Center for Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, UCSF

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison and Lei Lei

November 1, 2019

Lipids and the demise of neurons

Hugo Bellen, DVM, Ph.D

Investigator and Professor, Departments of Molecular & Human Genetics, Neuroscience, and Neurological Research Instistute, HHMI and Baylor College of Medicine

Hosted by Pankaj Kapahi

October 11, 2019

Developmental Origins of Reproductive Aging and Infertility

Aleksander Rajkovic, MD, PhD

Stuart Lindsay Distinguished Professor in Experimental Pathology I, Department of Pathology, Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, UCSF

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

October 4, 2019

Systems Biology of the Mitochondria in Aging

Pinchas Cohen, MD

Dean, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
University of Southern California

Hosted by Julie Andersen

March 8, 2019

Targeting Dysregulated Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease

Linda Van Eldik, PhD

Director, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging University of Kentucky

Hosted by Lisa Ellerby

March 1, 2019

C. elegans discriminate colors without eyes or opsins

Michael Nitabach, PhD, JD

Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Yale University

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

February 22, 2019

Genomic parasites and aging

Vera Gorbunova, PhD

Doris Johns Cherry Professor, Professor of Biology, Assoc. Professor of Oncology, University of Rochester

Hosted by Judy Campisi

February 8, 2019

Messenger Metabolites in Longevity Regulation

Meng Wang, PhD

Investigator, HHMI
Professor, Robert C. Fyfe Endowed Chair on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine

Hosted by Kai Zhou

January 25, 2019

To sleep or not to sleep: How the brain decides to wake us up

Luis de Lecea, PhD

Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

December 7, 2018

ER proteostasis unbalance: from aging to neurodegenerative diseases

Claudio Hetz, PhD

Biomedical Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Center for Geroscience, Brain Health & Metabolism, University of Chile, Dept. of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health; Adjunct Professor, Buck Institute

Hosted by Eric Verdin

November 30, 2018

Modeling Human Development Using Insights from Organoids and Embryos

Jason Spence, Ph.D

Associate Professor, Dept. of Internal Medicine
Dept. of Cell and Development Biology, University of Michigan

Hosted by Lisa Ellerby

November 12, 2018

Modeling of Human Neurological/Psychiatric Disorders using iPS cells and Transgenic Non-Human Primates

Hideyuki Okano, MD, PhD

Dean, Keio University Graduate School of Medicine & Professor, Dept. of Physiology
Tokyo, Japan

Hosted by Lisa Ellerby

October 26, 2018

Ovarian aging and the menopause: evaluating strategies to prevent or delay ovarian failure

Dori Woods, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biology, Northeastern University

Hosted by Judy Campisi

Octobre 12, 2018

Turning the Oxygen Dial as a Therapy: Hypoxia as a Treatment for Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Isha Jain, PhD

Sandler Faculty Fellow, UCSF

Hosted by Pankaj Kapahi

October 5, 2018

The genomics of flightlessness in birds

Scott V. Edwards, PhD

Alexander Agassiz Professor of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Hosted by Rachel Brem

Septemeber 28, 2018

Beyond Sarcopenia

Stephen Kritchevsky, Ph.D

Professor of Internal Medicine & Translational Research (with tenure), Section on Gerontology
& Geriatric Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine,Wake Forest School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, NC

Hosted by John Newman

September 21, 2018

A genetic model of rapid life-history evolution in the sea

Matthew Rockman, PhD

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology and Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, NYU

Hosted by Rachel Brem

September 7, 2018

On the Road to New Therapies for Intractable Epilepsies

Scott Baraban, PhD

Professor & William K. Bowes Jr. Endowed Chair in Neuroscience Research, Neurological Surgery
Weill Institute for Neurosciences, UCSF

Hosted by Lisa Ellerby

July 9, 2018

Enhanced protein turnover as a healthy aging strategy

Liesbet Temmerman, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
Ku Leuven, Belgium

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

June 1, 2018

Proteostasis and Inflammation: Converging Pathways in Neurodegeneration

Li Gan, PhD

Professor, Neurology, Associate Director & Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, UCSF

Hosted by Eric Verdin and Pankaj Kapahi

May 11, 2018

Cellular heterogeneity in response to chemotherapy or micro-environmental signals

Steven Altschuler, PhD

Professor, UCSF School of Pharmacy

Hosted by Christopher Benz
Joint seminar with Lani Wu, PhD

May 11, 2018

Cellular heterogeneity in response to chemotherapy or micro-environmental signals

Lani Wu, PhD

Professor, UCSF School of Pharmacy

Hosted by Christopher Benz
Joint seminar with Steven Altschuler, PhD

April 27, 2018

TAF1 and X-Linked Dystonia- Parkinsonism

Cristopher Bragg, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Hosted by Lisa Ellerby

March 30, 2018

Stem cells and organ regeneration in immortal planarian flatworms

Carrie Adler, PhD

Principal Investigator, Dept. of Molecular Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine Cornell University

Hosted by Jennifer Garrison

March 23, 2018

Building Hearts and Heart Parts

Kit Parker, PhD

Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering & Applied Physics, Wyss Institute for Biologically-Inspired Engineering, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

Hosted by Simon Melov

March 16, 2018

What is RNAi good for? Lessons from flies and mice, tales of sex and blood

Eric Lai, PhD

Professor, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York

Hosted by Pejmun Haghighi

March 9, 2018

A synaptic basis of Age-Induced Memory Decline

Stephan Sigrist, PhD

Professor, Institute of Biology, Freie Universtät Berlin & Neurocure, Charité University Medicine Berlin

Hosted by Pejmun Haghighi

March 2, 2018

Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells: Regeneration and Aging

Andrew Brack, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, UCSF

Hosted by Professor Pejmun Haghighi and Postdoc Harshi Peiris

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Directions

The Buck Institute is located 25 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Francisco Airport/San Francisco/South Bay:

  • Take Highway 101 North across the Golden Gate Bridge
  • Take the last Novato exit — Atherton/San Marin Drive (just north of the DeLong exit)
  • Turn left at the stoplight, and go west over the freeway overpass
  • Get in the right lane, and turn right at the second stoplight onto Redwood Boulevard
  • Go approximately ½ mile, and turn left onto Buck Center Drive
  • At the top of the hill, turn left into the Visitor Parking Lot

Berkeley/Oakland/Oakland International Airport:

  • Take Highway 80 to Highway 580 West, and cross the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge
  • Take 580 until it merges with Highway 101 North in San Rafael
  • Take the last Novato exit — Atherton/San Marin Drive (just north of the DeLong exit)
  • Turn left at the stoplight, and go west over the freeway overpass
  • Get in the right lane, and turn right at the second stoplight onto Redwood Boulevard
  • Go approximately ½ mile, and turn left onto Buck Center Drive
  • At the top of the hill, turn left into the Visitor Parking Lot

From Sonoma County, take Highway 101 South:

  • Take the first Novato exit (Atherton/San Marin Drive)
  • Turn right at the stoplight, and stay in the right lane
  • Take an immediate right onto Redwood Boulevard
  • Go approximately ½ mile, and turn left onto Buck Center Drive
  • At the top of the hill, turn left into the Visitor Parking Lot

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