Welcome

It is a great pleasure to invite you to participate at the 35^th American Aging Association Annual Meeting which is scheduled to take place in Boston, Massachusetts, June 2 - 5, 2006 and held at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts (http://hnrc.tufts.edu/).

In keeping with the mission and the traditions of this organization, the 2006 meeting will bring together those actively engaged in experimental gerontological research for the purpose of reviewing and discussing recent progress, exchanging information, and relating research in experimental animals to studies in the human. The broad theme selected for the AGE 2006 meeting is Interventions in Aging and Age-related Diseases: The Present and the Future.

Each of the eight sessions will consist of three presentations by distinguished speakers and with some exceptions, one to two short (15 minutes) presentations selected from the submitted abstracts. Each session will have at least one presentation on basic mechanisms and one to two presentations on intervention, which include both, presently available interventions as well as what would be expected in the future. There will also be a pre-meeting symposium on calorie restriction, a debate session sponsored by our journal and titled Amyloid-beta and Alzheimer's Disease: Center Ring or Side Show?, a session devoted to presentations by British scientists and a workshop focusing on the collaboration with the British Society on Research of Ageing (BSRA), an excellent Student Program and a session for the public and media.

This conference also provides an excellent learning and mentoring opportunity for young investigators. They represent the future of scientific advancement in understanding the aging process. We hope to fund the travel and lodging expenses of at least 15 graduate students and post-doctoral trainees, and to provide for the similar expenses of several minority group members.

A Call for Abstracts is now open online. As always, I encourage each one of you to take advantage of renewing your membership or purchasing one as it offers a great discount towards the annual meeting registration (not to mention online access to our journal!).

Biomedical research is vital to the long-term objectives of the health related industries. We are encouraged that our allied industrial sectors, as well as health-directed foundations recognize the importance of aging research and participate in supporting scientific meetings. We believe you will benefit from participating in the conference, meeting leading scientists in the field, and conversing with poster presenters and others about your particular interests in aging research. We invite you to come and experience this meeting with us as a speaker, poster presenter, attendee, exhibitor or sponsor and join us in our mission to promote research which will ultimately lead to a long, healthy, productive life for all men and women.

And should you be planning to spend an extra day or so in Boston, there will be plenty of fun and interesting things to do, learn about, or experience… With its history, arts, sports, beautiful public gardens, Boston remains as a truly unique travel destination. A short trip away from the city will take you to the beautiful beaches of Cape Cod, quaint towns in the northern shores or to outdoor concerts by the Charles River or in Tanglewood. As we will proceed with the scientific program preparation, we will also continue to offer more information on sightseeing and spouse/guest programs.

On behalf of the American Aging Association, I look forward to welcoming you in my home town, Boston –