|
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
(2008-2009)
President:
S. Mitch Harman, MD, PhD
President-Elect:
Janko Nikolich-Zugich, MD, PhD
Immediate Past President:
Thomas Johnson, PhD
Vice President:
John Furber
Vice President-Elect:
Rolf Martin
Secretary:
Julie Mattison, PhD
Executive Director:
Mark A. Smith, PhD
Treasurer:
Mark A. Smith, PhD
Trustees:
Denham Harman, MD, PhD, FACP
Board Members
Past Four Presidents:
Andrzej Bartke, PhD, Chairperson
Simin Nikbin Meydani, DVM, PhD
Holly Van Remmen, PhD
Norman S. Wolf, DVM, PhD
Lay Members
Elliot Bergman
Jean Carper
Donna Cini
John Furber
Helen Harman
Scientific Members
Arthur K. Balin, MD, PhD, FACP
Paula Bickford, PhD
Holly Brown-Borg, PhD
Rafael deCabo, PhD
Robert Floyd, PhD
S. Mitchell Harman, MD, PhD
Donald K. Ingram, PhD
Steve Kohama, PhD
Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, PhD
Mohsen Meydani, DVM, PhD
Janko Nikolich-Zugich, MD, PhD
George S. Roth, PhD
Mark A. Smith, PhD
LaDora Thompson, PhD
|
TOP
Arthur K. Balin, MD, PhD, FACP
 Dr.
Balin is Medical Director of The
Sally Balin Medical Center for
Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery in
Media, PA. This ambulatory surgical
facility in suburban Philadelphia is
the site of Dr. Balin's practice in
treatment of skin cancer, wound
healing and the problems of aging
skin. Dr. Balin graduated from
Northwestern University and
completed his medical degree (M.D.)
and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the
University of Pennsylvania. He has
taught courses on such subjects as
dermatology, skin surgery and
anatomy. He is Clinical Professor in
the Department of Dermatology at MCP/Hahnemann
School of Medicine as well as
Research Professor of the Department
of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
at MCP/Hahnemann School of
Medicine.
Dr. Balin is an
active member of more than 50
professional and academic
societies. He has written numerous
research papers on basic aging
research, nutrition,
wound
healing and clinical and
experimental dermatology. He was
one of the first scientists to grow
human skin in the laboratory and to
then take the skin and place it on
wounds to help them heal. He serves
on the editorial and scientific
advisory boards of several journals
and organizations. His
specific focus is the ameliorization
of cutaneous disease associated with
the aging process. He is particularly interested in skin cancer and wound healing in
the elderly.
Dr. Balin is
currently serving as Treasurer and
Executive Director of the American
Aging Association.
TOP
Andrzej Bartke, PhD
Dr. Bartke joined
Southern Illinois University's
medical school faculty in 1984. He
earned his doctorate in Zoology
Genetics from the University of
Kansas in Lawrence (1965) and
magister degree (equivalent of a
master's) from Jagiellonian
University in Krakow, Poland (1962).
Bartke has also received the
inaugural Methuselah Prize for his
contributions to life extension
research resulting in the longest
lived mouse (2003), the Phi Kappa
Phi Outstanding Scientist Award
(1997), the Carl G. Hartman Award of
the Society for the Study of
Reproduction (1995), the American
Society of Andrology's Distinguished
Service Award (1995) and the Sigma
Xi Kaplan Research Award (1991).
TOP
Paula Bickford, PhD
Dr.
Bickford
is a Professor
in the
Department of
Neurosurgery,
Center for Aging
& Brain Repair
at the VA
Medical Center, USF. Her
research
interests
include Aging
and Oxidative
Stress.
Read more
TOP
Jean Carper
 Jean
Carper is a medical journalist, author of 23 books,
including Stop Aging Now! based on the free-radical
theory of aging. She is the 1995 recipient of the
American Aging Association's award for excellence in
journalism. She is also the author of Your Miracle
Brain (2000) on nutritional influences affecting the
brain, especially the aging brain, and a nutrition
columnist for USA Weekend Magazine, appearing in 600
newspapers with about 50 million readers.
Previously, she was an award-winning on-air-medical
correspondent for CNN (Cable News Network). A
graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and recipient
of their alumni achievement award, she lives in
Washington, DC and Florida.
TOP
Donna Cini
TOP
Robert A.
Floyd, PhD
 Dr.
Floyd is the Merrick Foundation Chair in Aging Research
and Program Head of the Free Radical Biology and Aging
Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research
Foundation. His research involves the role of reactive
nitrogen species (RNS) and reactive oxygen species (ROS)
in diseases of aging, especially brain aging, as well as
events that occur in carcinogenesis. His research has
involved the mechanism of action of nitrone-based free
radical traps in their neuroprotective activity in
neurodegenerative diseases and their anti-cancer
activity in experimental models of cancer. He co-founded
Centaur Pharmaceuticals in 1992 that started the
commercialization of nitrones in stroke and other
age-related disease. This early effort helped lead to
the selection of one nitrone, NXY-059, that is now in
phase 3 clinical trials for stroke under the
developmental leadership of Renovis and AstraZeneca.
TOP
John
D. Furber
 An
entrepreneur and scientist, John
Furber has been studying the biology
of aging and regeneration for 20
years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts
in Physics and Mathematics from the
University of California at Santa
Cruz, and a Master of Science in
Biological Sciences from the
University of California at Irvine.
Mr. Furber founded Legendary
Pharmaceuticals in 2000 to develop
pharmaceutical drugs and gene
therapies which repair and reverse
progressive damage to mitochondria
and lysosomes, in order to prevent
and treat serious, late-onset
diseases commonly associated with
aging.
www.legendarypharma.com;
www.legendarypharma.com/jdf/furberbiog.html;
http://members.aol.com/johnfurber
TOP
Denham Harman, MD, PhD,
FACP 
Dr.
Denham Harman, M.D., Ph.D., is a
Professor Emeritus at the
University of Nebraska
College of Medicine, Department of
Medicine.
He is the originator of the Free
Radical Theory of Aging and
founder of the American Aging
Association (he had served as both,
President and Executive Director,
for many years). Dr. Harman is also
a co-founder of the International
Association of Biomedical
Gerontology.
Dr.
Harman first proposed a theory of
aging as the indiscriminate chemical
reactivity of free radicals possibly
leading to random biological damage.
His idea has met with much
experimental success, and is now
considered a major theory of aging.
The theory implies that antioxidants
such as vitamins E and C, which
prevent free radicals from oxidizing
(removing electrons from) sensitive
biological molecules, will slow the
aging process. Dr. Harman launched
his theory by showing, for the first
time, that feeding a variety of
antioxidants to mammals was able to
extend their life spans.
Read AGE's
press release of February 13, 2006.
TOP
Helen Harman
TOP
S.
Mitchell Harman, MD, PhD
TOP
Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, PhD
Christiaan Leeuwenburgh major research focus is
to understand the molecular mechanism of
oxidative stress and apoptosis with age. His
laboratory utilizes short and long lived animal
models of aging. He is a pioneer in conducting
research on the role of apoptosis in the loss of
heart and skeletal muscle function with age. He
often participates in workshops focused on the
biology of aging and geriatric research of the
National Institute on Aging. He has published
papers in The Journal of Biological Chemistry,
American Journal of Physiology and recently in
the Journal Science. He reviews regularly for
numerous journals including American Journal of
Physiology, FASEB, Experimental Gerontology,
Biogerontology, and the Journal of Gerontology.
His work on assessment of oxidative damage and
apoptosis with age has been increasingly
recognized and appreciated by gerontologists
worldwide.
TOP
Julie Mattison,
PhD
 Julie
Mattison is the contract Facility
Head for the National Institute on
Aging’s primate aging projects. Her
research is focused on NIA’s
long-term study of calorie
restriction and aging in rhesus
monkeys where she is involved with
many projects including:
cardiovascular function,
reproductive aging, immune function,
vision, and inflammatory responses.
Julie is also studying the effect of
high salt intake on cardiovascular
responses and aging as a risk factor
for atherosclerosis, both in rhesus
monkeys. She has been active in the
American Aging Association since
1999 when she was a recipient of the
Nicolai award for graduate student
research in calorie restriction in
Ames dwarf mice, a mouse model of
delayed aging. In 2002, she was an
awardee of the Glenn award for
post-doctoral research for her study
of high salt. She received her B.S.
in Biology from UCSD, an M.S. in
Exercise Physiology from Central
Washington University, and her Ph.D.
in Physiology from Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale. Julie also
holds an adjunct teaching position
at College of Notre Dame of Maryland
teaching the Biology of Aging and
Interventions for Healthy Aging.
TOP
George Roth, PhD
 Dr.
George S. Roth was formally affiliated with the National
Institute on Aging from 1972-2004. Dr. Roth then served
as Senior Guest Scientist at NIA from 2000-2004, and
became CEO of GeroScience Inc., a biotechnology firm
devoted to “anti-aging” strategies. He also served as
Co-executive Director of the American Aging Association
from 2002 to 2003. His research interests continue to
be basic mechanisms of aging, having worked in the area
of signal transduction for many years, and now focussing
on "anti-aging" strategies. The most visible projects in
this area have been an examination of the effects of
dietary caloric restriction in nonhuman primates and,
more recently, the development of caloric restriction
mimetics.
Dr. Roth
has published over 300 papers, serves on many editorial
boards, and has received a number of honors and awards.
These include the Sandoz (now Novartis) Prize for
Gerontological Research, the
Research
Award of the American Aging Association, Chair of the
Gordon Conference on the Biology of Aging, Chair of the
Biological Sciences Section of the Geront. Soc. of
America, the Merit Award and Equal Employment
Opportunity Award of the National Institute on Aging,
and the Third Age Award of the Intl. Assoc. of
Gerontology. In addition, he has been the Sigma Xi
Scholar in Residence at Miami Univ., an NIH Visiting
Professor at Meharry Med. College and the Univ. of
Puerto Rico Med. School, the Ben Cohen Memorial Lecturer
at the Univ. of Michigan, Keynote Lecturer at Nagoya
Intl. Symp. on Aging and Health and the Israel Endocrine
Soc., and Alpha Omega Alpha Professor at the Univ. of
Puerto Rico. Dr. Roth has mentored 2 Ph.D. students and
more than 20 post-doctoral fellows, is frequently
interviewed by the media on gerontological research
issues, and is listed in Who's who in America.
TOP
Mark A. Smith, PhD
Dr. Mark A. Smith is
Professor of Pathology at Case Western Reserve
University, Cleveland, Ohio. He received a B.Sc. in
Molecular Biology & Biochemistry from Hatfield College,
Durham University, England (1986) and a Ph.D. in
Biochemistry from Nottingham University, England
(1990). Following a research fellowship at Sandoz
Forschungsinstitut, Vienna Austria, Dr. Smith joined
Case Western Reserve University in 1992. Dr. Smith serves on the Editorial Boards
of a number of age-related journals including
Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, Aging Cell,
and Neurobiology of Aging and also serves on
numerous review boards including NIH Study Section and
the Alzheimer’s Association. Dr. Smith’s many honors
include the American Federation of Aging Research Award
for Biomedical Research, Nathan Shock New Investigator
Award from the Gerontological Society of America, the
Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society of
Neurochemistry, and the Zenith Award from the
Alzheimer’s Association. Dr. Smith’s research interests
focus on investigating the pathological mechanisms
underlying selective neuronal death in a number of
age-related neurodegenerative disorders, most notably,
Alzheimer's disease. Over the past decade, Dr. Smith has
authored nearly 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts and
chapters.
TOP
Holly Van Remmen, PhD
Holly Van
Remmen is an Assistant Professor at the University of
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and a member
of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging
Studies. She is also appointed as a Research Health
Scientist at the South Texas Veterans Health Care
System. She received her Ph.D. in Physiology from the
University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio
in 1991 where she studied age related changes in enzyme
induction in Fischer 344 rats. During her graduate
work, she received several awards, including the Proctor
and Gamble Professional Opportunity Award from the
American Physiologic Society, the Graduate Studies in
Physiology Award for Excellence from the Graduate School
of Biomedical Sciences at UTHSCSA and the Sacher
Graduate Student Award in Biological Sciences from the
Gerontologic Society of America. In 1995, she received
an American Federation for Aging Research Award. She is
also a member of the Society for Free Radical Biology
and Medicine, and the American Physiologic Society. Her
current work involves using transgenic and knockout
mouse models to study the relationship between
mitochondrial oxidative stress/damage, cancer and
aging. Her recent studies have been directed at testing
the oxidative stress theory of aging and the role of
mitochondrial oxidative stress in aging using knockout
and transgenic mice with deficiencies in antioxidant
defense systems. She is currently studying the role of
mitochondrial oxidative stress in age-related in changes
in skeletal muscle structure and function and also in
age related disease such as Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS). Other studies in her lab are directed
at determining the relationship between spontaneous
oxidative damage to DNA and tumorigenesis in mice with
deficient antioxidant capacity or reduced DNA repair,
and the ability of Vitamin E to modulate this process.
TOP
Norman S. Wolf, DVM,
PhD
Dr. Wolf
is a past president of the American Aging Association
and a member of its Board of Directors. His primary
research interest is in the cell biology of aging with
emphasis on age-related cataract development and it
relationship to changes in metabolic functions and
oxidative damage in the mammalian lens. The eye may be
the window into the soul, but it is also a window into
the mechanisms of aging changes at the level of the
cellular subunits and functions. Certain shifts in
metabolic function and the protection against oxidative
damage at the nuclear and mitochondrial levels that are
found in the lenses of aging mammals appear to represent
a sampling of these events occurring more or less
globally in the body. For this reason and the ability to
continuously monitor the pathologic a endpoint of these
changes in the living animal as the development of
age-related cataract, the lens is a useful tool to
follow aging events. In addition, the confocal
measurements using fluorescent dyes designed to
determine the presence and/or extent of mitochondrial
presence and activity, the condition of nuclei and DNA
content, and changes in response to oxidative challenges
allows one to follow these as age related changes that
reflect global changes in the animal body.
TOP |
|
