American Aging Association (AGE)
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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          

 

 

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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.

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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).

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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 

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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.

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Donna Cini

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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.

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John D. Furber

JDF at deskAn 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

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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.

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Helen Harman

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S. Mitchell Harman, MD, PhD

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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.

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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