Buck faculty help found Academy for Health and Lifespan Research

A group of the world’s leading scientists form nonprofit aimed at accelerating breakthroughs to extend human healthspan.

Eric Verdin, MD, Buck Institute President and CEO, and Buck professor Judith Campisi, PhD, are among a prestigious group of 16 researchers founding the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research. The organization, launched today, is the first global nonprofit focused on accelerating breakthroughs in the extension of the human healthspan. 

The Academy’s mission is to set the public stage for the transformation society must make as healthspan extension results in a growing population fully able to live healthier lives longer. The group’s plan is to accomplish its goals through awareness and education, by giving new research a platform for dissemination, and by organizing conferences and forums where the world’s leaders in the study of healthspan and longevity will gather and share research and insights.  Ultimately, the Academy will provide grants to fund promising research from established and emerging scientists. 

“As founders of AHLR, we believe that as the field rapidly advances, we must help bridge the gap between science and public understanding,” said Campisi, a pioneer in the field of cellular senescence, believed to be one of the main drivers of age-related disease. “We believe that while death is inevitable, aging need not be. This is important at the personal level and for our culture. Health care costs are coupled with the economic impact of society’s loss of productivity from years of declining vigor.  We want to play the seminal role of bringing healthspan and longevity breakthroughs and their social implications to the attention of the public and governments throughout the world.”

The Academy embraces a 4C MISSION: First to catalyze the world’s ongoing research to accelerate the development of life-changing treatments and therapies, then to connect our founders, some of the world’s most esteemed researchers, to each other through the auspices of the Academy. The third C: Convene experts and authorities around the world to advance their missions, and the Academy’s, in public and private settings. Finally, to communicate with the public at large to educate them about this new generation of health span and longevity research, what it means and what it doesn’t, and re-frame the conversation.

Start-up funding for the nonprofit, a 501(c)) (3) organization, has come from companies, family trusts and individuals excited by the potential and social implications of health and lifespan expansion. The Academy’s initial founders (full list and affiliations attached) will be augmented by a growing roster of global longevity researchers as new members join. 

The first Academy conference takes place July 30 and 31 in Paris, convening to share results of new studies, recently published papers and areas of common inquiry. While coming from various disciplines and engaged in disparate approaches, the shared work of the world-renowned membership to reduce and reverse age-related decline.

For more information please go to: www.ahlresearch.org, @ahlresearch, or info@ahlresearch.org.

FOUNDERS, ACADEMY FOR HEALTH AND LIFESPAN RESEARCH

Johan Auwerx, M.D., Ph.D.
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Nir Barzilai, M.D.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Juan Carlos Belmonte, Ph.D.
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Judith Campisi, Ph.D.
Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Pinchas Cohen, M.D.
University of Southern California

Ana-Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Lenny Guarente, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Steve Horvath, Ph.D.
University of California Los Angeles

Cynthia Kenyon, Ph.D.
University of California San Francisco

James Kirkland, M.D., Ph.D.
Mayo Clinic

Guido Kroemer, M.D., Ph.D.
Université de Paris Descartes

George Martin, M.D.
University of Washington

Thomas Rando, M.D., Ph.D.
Stanford University

Manuel Serrano, Ph.D.
Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona

David Sinclair, Ph.D, A.O.
Harvard Medical School

Eric Verdin, M.D., Ph.D.
Buck Institute for Research on Aging