On Sunday, November 29, several AFAR experts were featured in a National Geographic Channel special, BREAKTHROUGH: The Age of Aging, gaining incomparable visibility for the field of aging research by reaching millions of viewers nationwide.
Directed and narrated by Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard, The Age of Aging was part of the BREAKTHROUGH series spotlighting scientific innovations poised to have real-world impact in the near future. The series was developed by GE and National Geographic Channel.
The Age of Aging episode opened with a meeting at the AFAR headquarters between scientists and AFAR leadership to prepare an upcoming meeting with the FDA to discuss the TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) trial, whose planning process AFAR has helped support.
The momentum behind the TAME Trial provided a thread throughout the entire episode, and insights from AFAR Deputy Scientific Director Nir Barzilai, MD, and fellow board members S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, and Jim Kirkland, MD, PhD, were featured prominently and frequently..
Later in the episode, Scientific Director Steven Austad, PhD, joined Barzilai and Olshansky for a meeting with Senator Claire McCaskill, Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging, to discussi the promise of TAME. They next met with an official from the FDA to make the case that aging be considered an indicator for treatments, and to discuss the potential impact of TAME.
The Age of Aging also featured segments on Barzilai's centenarian research and Kirkland's research on cellular senescence.
Behind the scenes, AFAR was instrumental in helping shape The Age of Aging's content. Executive Director Stephanie Lederman worked closely with producer Jonathan Silberberg to secure AFAR experts and orchestrate meetings with scientists, press, and foundations that were part of the film.
