As Aging Populations Rise, World-Renowned Aging Experts Will Convene to Share Insights into How to Achieve a Healthy Lifespan

Cambridge, MA (Vocus) August 12, 2009

The world's foremost thought leaders in the science of aging will convene at Harvard in September to discuss the question that has perplexed people since Ponce de Leon first sought out the Fountain of Youth, "can we live longer and healthier lives?" For the first time the scientific consensus appears to be, "yes."

World-renowned physicians, academic leaders and award-winning researchers in what has been described as the hottest field in biology, are expected to attend the first ever Aging & Healthy Lifespan Conference on Sept. 23 at Harvard Medical School. They plan to present breakthrough scientific research and insights on social trends that may provide the key to unlock the secret to living longer and healthier lives. The groundbreaking research presented by these experts has been predicted to change healthcare as we know it by combating age-related diseases like Alzheimer's, type-2 diabetes and cancer, ultimately extending the human lifespan altogether.

The conference's agenda features more than 20 experts, who have been described as mavericks and pioneers in the field of aging research, including:

•     Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Science Officer of the Methuselah Foundation, who developed an approach to identify all components that cause human aging and remedy each one to expedite a cure for aging;
•     David Ewing Duncan, award-winning journalist and best-selling author of seven books, including The Experimental Man, a Chief Correspondent for public radio's "Biotech Nation," a longtime commentator for NPR's "Morning Edition," and the Director of the Center for Life Science Policy and a Visiting Researcher at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkley.
•     Leonard Guarente, Ph.D., Novartis Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and researcher credited with the discovery of the biochemical activities of sirtuins that have the potential to combat diseases of aging;
•     Cynthia Kenyon, Ph.D., Director of Hillblom Center for the Biology of Aging, University of California, San Francisco, who first discovered that genetic dissection influences aging;
•     Michael F. Roizen, M.D., Co-Founder of RealAge and award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author and co-author of five books in the RealAge series, including RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be? and YOU: The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger, co-authored with Dr. Mehmet Oz.
•     David Sinclair, Ph.D., Sirtris Co-Founder, Scientific Advisory Board Co-Chair and Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and key contributor to the scientific understanding of aging;
•     Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Sirtris, a GSK Company and Senior Vice President, Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery, GSK. Sirtris is focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat diseases of aging.

Speakers at the Aging & Healthy Lifespan Conference will present emerging research into scientific and medical advances in aging, as well as lifestyle and demographic trends on two speaker tracks. One track will focus on new research and insights in the science of aging including updates on the science behind sirtuins and resveratrol, the key ingredient in red wine that researchers believe has the power to slow symptoms of aging. The second track will feature emerging social trends in lifestyles, behaviors and activities of the aging population.

The meeting of these experts is well-timed, as over the next 20 years, the population over age 65 is expected to double, and with it, healthcare spending expected to rise by 25 percent.

"We have understood the science behind aging for some time now, but now we are finally working towards making this research a pharmaceutical reality," said Dr. Sinclair. "I think the highlight of the Aging & Health Lifespan Conference will be the examination of how this research can have a life-changing effect on our aging population in the very near term."

The conference will also feature insight from leading research and advocacy associations, such as the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), which has been on the forefront of revolutionary approaches to the science of healthier aging for the past 28 years; The Methuselah Foundation, which works to advance biomedical progress to significantly increase the healthy human lifespan and The National Institute on Aging, the primary Federal agency on Alzheimer's disease research.

The Aging & Healthy Lifespan Conference is sponsored by Pure Communications and the American Federation for Aging Research. Registration is now open for the conference, which costs $795 per person and will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center in Harvard Medical School. Guests can learn more about the conference or register online by visiting, http://www.healthylifespanconference.com .

###