Grantees in the News: Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD, Discovers Eye Drops to Treat Macular Degeneration

Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, and colleagues have successfully prevented the growth of ocular blood vessels that cause macular degeneration, the leading cause of severe vision loss in older Americans, in mice by treating them with eye drops that lower cholesterol levels, reported The Telegraph on April 2. Dr. Apte’s results were published this month in the journal Cell Metabolism. This treatment also "showed promising effects" in cells from humans with macular degeneration. Dr. Apte is the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the…

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March 21st: Today's Alzheimer's Disease Webinar Cancelled

The AFAR webinar scheduled for today, March 21, 2013 at 3pm has been cancelled. The webinar will be rescheduled, more information coming soon.

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Grantees in the News: David Sinclair, PhD, Talks with NPR about Sirtuin Pathways

On March 8, David Sinclair, PhD, appeared on NPR to discuss his recent findings on the genetic pathway by which a compound found in wine works to “defend against the diseases of aging.” The compound, resveratrol, has been observed to protect obese mice from disease as they aged. Now Dr. Sinclair and his team have demonstrated how resveratrol is connected to cell metabolism and inflammation, which in turn can impact the development of age-related disease. Their findings were published in the journal Science on March 8. Dr. Sinclair also discussed the relationship of the basic biological processes of aging and…

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Summer School on Neuroscience and Aging Accepting Applications

The Research Program on Aging of the Italian Research Council (CNR), in collaboration with the Italian Society of Geontology and Geriatrics (SIGG), the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) and the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) is offering one-week program in Neuroscience and Aging. The program enrolls 20 international post graduate students, and is held in Venice, from June 10 to June 15, 2013. The faculty includes neuroscientists and geriatricians from Europe and from US, the course is based on lectures as well as laboratory sessions (e.g., basic science, neuroimaging, research protocols’ presentations and discussion). In particular, the classes run Monday…

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New York Times Publishes Letter from Executive Director Stephanie Lederman

On January 15th, the Editorial section of the New York Times published a letter from AFAR's Executive Director, Stephanie Lederman.  Ms. Lederman wrote the letter in response to an article that appeared on January 10th, titled "For Americans Under 50, Stark Findings on Health."  Ms. Lederman's letter urges us both to draw encouragement from the fact that older Americans have relatively high life expectancies compared with other countries, and to keep in mind that biomedical research on aging plays an essential role in the overall health of the population.  By studying the mechanisms of aging (including…

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