Scientific Committees

AFAR's committees are comprised of experts in aging research and related areas of research, including many past AFAR grantees.

Our Scientific Committee members volunteer their time and expertise to the AFAR review processes. Their dedication, enthusiasm and commitment is crucial to the success of AFAR's grant programs.

AFAR grants are selected through a meticulous, scientifically rigorous review process to ensure that only the most promising science receives our support.

The Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Awards in Aging
Program Advisory Board

Thomas Gill, MD, Chair
Yale University School of Medicine

Sara Espinoza, MD, MSc
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Emily Finlayson, MD, MS, FACS
University of California, San Francisco

Angela Jefferson, PhD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Daniel D. Matlock, MD
University of Colorado Denver – Anschutz Medical Campus

Donovan Maust, MD
University of Michigan

Manish N. Shah, MD, MPH
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health

Manjula Kurella Tamura, MD, MPH
Stanford University School of Medicine

Kristine Yaffe, MD
University of California, San Francisco

Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty and the Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty
Selection Committee

Catherine Kaczorowski, PhD, Chair
University of Michigan

Holly M. Brown-Borg, PhD
University of North Dakota

Dudley Lamming, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health

Anthony J.A. Molina, PhD
University of California, San Diego

Daniel Promislow, PhD
University of Washington

Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research
Selection Committee

Ashley Webb, PhD, Chair
Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Hua Bai, PhD
Iowa State University

Bérénice A. Benayoun, PhD
University of Southern California

Jennifer Garrison, PhD
Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Scott Leiser, PhD
University of Michigan Medical School

Marc Vermulst, PhD
University of Southern California

Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Discovery Awards
Selection Committee

Darren Baker, PhD, Chair
Mayo Clinic

Heinrich Jasper, PhD
Genentech,Inc.

Li-Huei Tsai, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Charlotte Peterson, PhD
University of Kentucky

Jonathan Wanagat, MD, PhD
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Diana Jacobs Kalman/AFAR Scholarships for Research in the Biology of Aging Selection Committee

Nathan LeBrasseur, PhD, MS, Chair
Mayo Clinic

Anna Csiszar, MD, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Lindsay De Biase, PhD
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Christina E. Hugenschmidt, PhD
Wake Forest School of Medicine

Jason Karpac, PhD
Texas A&M University

Jason Roh, MD, MHS
Harvard Medical School

Michael Stout, PhD
The University of Oklahoma

McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards in Cognitive Aging and Memory Loss

Ana Maria Cuervo, MD, PhD, Chair
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Rozalyn Anderson, PhD
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Patricia Boyle, PhD
Rush University and The McKnight Brain Research Foundation

Rafael de Cabo, PhD
National Institute on Aging, NIH

Roy H. Hamilton, MD, MS
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and The McKnight Brain Research Foundation

Madhav Thambisetty, MD, PhD
The McKnight Brain Research Foundation

Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research

Gordon J. Lithgow, PhD, Chair
Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Evandro Fang, PhD
University of Oslo and Akershus University Hospital

Brian Kennedy, PhD
National University of Singapore

Laura Niedernhofer, MD, PhD
University of Minnesota

Holly Van Remmen, PhD
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Ming Xu, PhD
UConn Health

National Scientific Advisory Council (NSAC)

Shawn Ahmed, PhD
University of North Carolina

Mikhail Alexeyev, PhD
University of South Alabama

Nazif Alic, PhD
University of College London

Richard Altschuler, PhD
University of Michigan

Stephen Alway, PhD, FACSM
University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Fabrisia Ambrosio, PhD, MPT
University of Pittsburgh

Javier Apfeld, PhD
Northeastern University

Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD
Washington University

Nausica Arnoult, PhD
University of Colorado, Boulder

Steven Austad, PhD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Hua Bai, PhD
Iowa State University

Darren Baker, PhD
Mayo Clinic

Joshua Baker, MD, MSC
University of Pennsylvania

Lisa Barnes, PhD
Rush University Medical Center

Joseph Baur, PhD
University of Pennsylvania

Isabel Beerman, PhD
National Institutes of Health

Narayan Bhat, PhD
Medical University of South Carolina

Paula Bickford, PhD
University of South Florida

Gal Bitan, PhD
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

T. Keith Blackwell, MD, PhD
Joselin Diabetes Center

Rolf Bodmer, PhD
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Andrea Bodnar, PhD
Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute

Frank Booth, PhD
University of Missouri

Susan Brooks Herzog, PhD
University of Michigan

Robert Brosh, Jr., PhD
National Institute on Aging/NIH

Holly Brown-Borg, PhD
University of North Dakota, School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Anne Brunet, PhD
Stanford University

Abigail Buchwalter, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

Thomas Buford, PhD, FACSM, FAHA, FGSA
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

Christin Burd, PhD
The Ohio State University

Kristopher Burkewitz, PhD
Vanderbilt University

Filipe Cabreiro
University of Cologne

Dongsheng Cai, MD, PhD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Cathy Carlson, DVM, PhD
University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine

S. Thomas Carmichael, MD, PhD
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Greg Cartee, PhD
University of Michigan

Christy Carter, PhD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Mary Lou Caspers, PhD
University of Detroit Mercy

Joe Chakkalakal, PhD
University of Rochester

Yung Chang, PhD
Arizona State University

Zheng Chen, PhD
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Danica Chen, PhD
University of California, Berkeley

Zheng-Yi Chen, PhD
Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary

James Chrobak, PhD
University of Connecticut

Dennis Clegg, PhD
University of California, Santa Barbara

Helena Cocheme, PhD
MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS)

Harvey Jay Cohen, MD
Duke University Medical Center

Lucio Comai, PhD
University of Southern California

Shannon Conley, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center

Cheryl Conover, PhD
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Constanza Cortes, PhD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Eileen Crimmins, PhD
University of Southern California

Carlos Cruchaga, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine

Anna Csiszar, MD, PhD
University of Oklahoma

Christine Curcio, PhD
University of Alabama School of Medicine

Sara Czaja, PhD
Weill Cornell Medicine

Weiwei Dang, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine

Della David, PhD
Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen

Lindsay De Biase, PhD
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Joao Pedro De Magalhaes, PhD
University of Liverpool

Abbe de Vallejo, PhD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Ferenc Deak, MD, PhD
Augusta University

Joris Deelen
Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing

Lucian Del Priore, MD, PhD
Yale University

Fabio Demontis, PhD
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Martin Denzel, PhD
Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing

Nicolaas Deutz, MD, PhD
Texas A&M University

Jingzhong Ding, PhD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Luisa DiPietro, DDS, PhD
University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry

Radek Dobrowolski, PhD
Rutgers University

Peter Douglas, PhD
UT Southwestern Medical Center

Damian Dowling, PhD
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University

Isabelle Draper, PhD
Tufts Medical Center, MCRI

Oliver Dreesen, PhD
Skin Research Institute of Singapore, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore

Monica Driscoll, PhD
Rutgers University

Gustavo Duque, MD, PhD
University of Melbourne

Atanu Duttaroy, PhD
Howard University

Sandra Encalada, PhD
The Scripps Research Institute

Ana-Mafalda Escobar-Henriques Dias
University of Cologne

Paul Eslinger, PhD
Penn State Hershey Medical Center

James Fadel, PhD
University of South Carolina School of Medicine

Evandro Fang, PhD
University of Oslo and Akershus University Hospital

Roger Fielding, PhD
JMHNRC Tufts University

Els Fieremans, PhD
New York University School of Medicine

Caleb Finch, PhD
University of Southern California

Alfred Fisher, MD, PhD
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Tracy Fitzgerald, PhD
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders/NIH

Thomas Flatt, PhD
University of Fribourg

Jerome Fleg, MD
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH

Bess Frost, PhD
UT Health San Antonio

Jose Garcia, MD, PhD
University of Washington

Michael Garratt, PhD
University of Otago

Jennifer Garrison, PhD
Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Arjumand Ghazi, PhD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Jadwiga Giebultowicz, PhD
Oregon State University

Emily Goldberg, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

Todd Golde, MD, PhD
University of Florida

Mitzi Gonzales, PhD, ABPP-CN
UT Health San Antonio

Susana Gonzalo, PhD
Saint Louis University School of Medicine

Helen Goodridge, PhD
Cedars Sinai Medical Center

Andrea Gore, PhD
The University of Texas at Austin

Jorg Goronzy, MD, PhD
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Sciences

Martin Graef
Cornell University

Kim Green, PhD
University of California, Irvine

Eric Greer, PhD
Harvard Medical School/Children's Hospital Boston

Sarah Greising, PhD
University of Minnesota

Kristin Gribble, PhD
Marine Biological Laboratory

Pejmun Haghighi, PhD
The Buck Institute

Marcia Haigis, PhD
Harvard Medical School

Malene Hansen, PhD
The Buck Institute

Laura Haynes, PhD
University of Connecticut Health Center

Denise Head, PhD
Washington University

W. Mike Henne, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Jason Hinman, MD, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles

Fuki Hisama, MD
University of Washington

Jan Hoeijmakers
University of Cologne

Eric Howard, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center

Ao-Lin Hsu, PhD
National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Patrick Hu, MD, PhD
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Xudong Huang, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital

Ting-Ting Huang, PhD
Stanford University and VA Palo Alto

Karen Hubbard, PhD
The City College of New York

Christina Hugenschmidt, PhD
Wake Forest School of Medicine

Adam Hughes, PhD
University of Utah

Bradley Hyman, MD, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital

Yuji Ikeno, MD, PhD
UT Health San Antonio

Shin-ichiro Imai, MD, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine

Arun Jayraman, PT, PhD
Northwestern University

Kailiang Jia, MD, PhD
Florida Atlantic University

Leanne Jones, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

Catherine Kaczorowski, PhD
University of Michigan

Jan Karlseder, PhD
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Jason Karpac, PhD
Texas A&M University Health Science Center

Kylie Kavanagh, DVM, MS, MPH
Wake Forest School of Medicine

Alaattin Kaya, PhD
Virginia Commonwealth University

Kimberly Keil-Stietz, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rajesh Khanna, PhD
New York University

Mark Kindy, PhD
University of South Florida

Dalane Kitzman, MD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Mark Kleinman, MD
Eastern Tennessee State University

Amos Korczyn, MD, MSc
Tel Aviv University

Deborah Kristan, PhD
California State University San Marcos

George Kuchel, MD
University of Connecticut Health Center

Albert La Spada, MD, PhD, FACMGG
University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

Vyacheslav Labunskyy, PhD
Boston University School of Medicine

Mary Jo LaDu, PhD
University of Illinois at Chicago

Patrick Lajoie, PhD
The University of Western Ontario

Aparna Lakkaraju, PhD
University of California San Francisco

Ashish Lal, PhD
National Cancer Institute, NIH

Dudley Lamming, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thomas Lang, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

Ian Lanza, PhD
Mayo Clinic

Louis Lapierre, PhD
Brown University

Jan LaRocque, PhD
Georgetown University

Matthew LaVoie, PhD
University of Florida

William Lee, PhD
The David Axelrod Institute

Frank Lee, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania

Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, PhD
University of Florida

Scott Leiser, PhD
University of Michigan

Sean Leng, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University

Rodney Levine, MD, PhD
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH

Harry LeVine, III, PhD
University of Kentucky

Su-Ju Lin, PhD
University of California, Davis

Jonathan Lin, MD, PhD
Stanford University

Rui-Ming Liu, MD, PhD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Richard Loeser, Jr., MD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Brendan Lucey, MD
Washington University School of Medicine

Jianyuan Luo, PhD
Peking University Health Science Center

Yao-Ying Ma, MD, PhD
Indiana University

Kathy Magnusson, DVM, PhD
Oregon State University

Elham Mahmoudi, PhD, MBA, MS
University of Michigan

Diane Mahoney, PhD, RN, FAAN
MassGen Hospital Institue of Health Professions

William Mair, PhD
Harvard School of Public Health

Goldis Malek, PhD
Duke University, Albert Eye Research Institute

David Marcinek, PhD
University of Washington Medical Center

Ronen Marmorstein, PhD
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Gad Marshall, MD
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Mitch McVey, PhD
Tufts University

Alicia Melendez, PhD
Queens College-CUNY

Benjamin Miller, PhD
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Dana Miller, PhD
University of Washington

Anthony Molina, PhD
University of California, San Diego

Darcie Moore, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison

David Morgan, PhD
Michigan State University

Kendall Moseley, MD
Johns Hopkins University

Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD
The Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center

Shin Murakami, PhD
Touro University-California

M. Paul Murphy, PhD
University of Kentucky

Radhika Muzumdar, MD
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Tim Nagy, PhD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

James Nelson, PhD
UT Health at San Antonio

John Newman, MD, PhD
Buck Institute/UCSF

Anne Newman, MD, MPH
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health

Kristy Nielson, PhD
Marquette University

Janko Nikolich-Zugich, MD, PhD
University of Arizona College of Medicine

Nicole Noren Hooten, PhD
NIA/NIH

Ann O'Hare, MD
University of Washington

Bradley Olwin, PhD
University of Colorado Boulder

Alessandro Ori, PhD
Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI)

David Orren ,PhD
University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Mary Ann Ottinger, PhD
University of Houston

Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD
University of Southern California

Amy Pasquinelli, PhD
University of California, San Diego

Hemal Patel, PhD
University of California, San Diego

Ana Pereira, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Daniel Perl, MD
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Lena Pernas, PhD
Max Planck

Robert Petersen, PhD
Central Michigan University

Daniel Peterson, PhD
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science

Robert Pignolo, MD, PhD
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Scott Pletcher, PhD
University of Michigan

Daniel Promislow, DPhil
University of Washington School of Medicine

Jacob Raber, PhD
Oregon Health & Science University

Peter Rabinovitch, MD, PhD
University of Washington

Irfan Rahman, PhD
University of Rochester Medical Center

Jon Ramsey, PhD
University of California, Davis

Thomas Rando, MD, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles

Shane Rea, PhD
University of Washington (Pathology)

P. Hemachandra Reddy, PhD
Texas Tech University Health Science Center

May Reed, MD
University of Washington School of Medicine

Michael Rich, MD
Washington University School of Medicine

Arlan Richardson, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center

Michael Ristow, MD, PhD
ETH Zurich

Jack Rogers, PhD
Harvard Medical School

Jason Roh, MD, MHS
Harvard Medical School

Shuvo Roy, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

Michael Ruggieri, Sr., PhD
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

Marianna Sadagurski, PhD
Wayne State University

Martin Sadowski, MD, PhD
New York University School of Medicine

Hiroshi Saito, PhD
University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Adam Salmon, PhD
Barshop Institute

Andrew Samuelson, PhD
University of Rochester Medical Center

Nanette Santoro, MD
University of Colorado School of Medicine

Deepa Sathyaseelan, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Clemens Scherzer, MD
Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Birgit Schilling, PhD
Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Steven Schreiber, MD
University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

Bjorn Schumacher
University of Cologne

Michael Seidman, PhD
Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology/National Institute on Aging/NIH

Colin Selman, PhD
University of Glasgow

Payel Sen, PhD
NIA, NIH

Gerald Shadel, PhD
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Sudha Sharma, PhD
Howard University

Albert Shaw, MD, PhD
Yale School of Medicine

Eric Shelden, PhD
Washington State University

Barbara Shukitt-Hale, PhD
USDA, HNRCA at Tufts University

Josh Shulman, MD, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine

Einar Sigurdsson, PhD
New York University School of Medicine

Meharvan Singh, PhD
Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago

Shinichi Someya, PhD
University of Florida, College of Medicine

William Sonntag, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Farzaneh Sorond, MD, PhD
Northwestern University

Alexander Soukas, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Marlene Starr, PhD
University of Kentucky

Derek Stirewalt, MD
Fred Hutchinson Cancer

Michael Stout, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Yousin Suh, PhD
Columbia University Medical Center

Patrick Sullivan, PhD
The University of Kentucky Chandler College of Medicine

Nathalie Sumien, PhD
University of North Texas Health Science Center

Mark Supiano, MD
University of Utah

Karen Swisshelm, PhD
University of Colorado Denver

George Taffet, MD
Baylor College of Medicine

Nektarios Tavernarakis, PhD
Hellas Medical School, University of Crete

J. Andrew Taylor, PhD
Harvard Medical School/Spaulding Hospital Cambridge

John Thaden, PhD
Texas A&M University

Qiang Tong, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine

John Tower, PhD
University of Southern California

Tara Tracy, PhD
Buck Institute

Aleksandra Trifunovic, PhD
University of Cologne

Bruce Troen, MD
School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences University at Buffalo - SUNY

Jennifer Tullet, PhD
University of Kent School of Biosciences

R. Scott Turner, MD, PhD
Georgetown University Medical Center

Dennis Turner, MD
Duke University Medical Center

Duygu Ucar, PhD
The Jackson Laborary

Zoltan Ungvari, MD, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Archana Unnikrishnan, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center

Holly Van Remmen, PhD
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Marc Vermulst, MSc, PhD
University of Southern California

Ruben Vidal, PhD
Indiana University School of Medicine

David Walker, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles

Amy Walker, PhD
University of Massachusetts Medical School

Jonathan Wanagat, MD, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles

Meng Wang, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine

Shusheng Wang, PhD, MBA
Tulane University

Xin Wang, PhD
Brigham and Women's Hospital

Gordon Warren, PhD
Georgia State University

Debra Waters, PhD
University of Otago

Ashley Webb, PhD
The Buck Institute

Noah Weisleder, PhD
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Fletcher White, PhD
Indiana University School of Medicine

Bradley Willcox, MD
University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine

Dan Winer, MD
The Buck Institute

Robert Wolfe, PhD
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

John Woodard, PhD
Wayne State University

Lindsay Wu, PhD
UNSW Sydney

Rui Xiao, PhD
University of Florida

Ming Xu PhD
University of Connecticut

Shoshana Yakar, PhD
New York University

Omer Yilmaz, MD, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Andrew Yoo, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine

Chuankai (Kai) Zhou, PhD
The Buck Institute

Shuanhu Zhou, PhD
Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Zhongjun Zhou, PhD
School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong

Nicholas Ziats, PhD
Case Western Reserve University

Roberto Zoncu, PhD
University of California, Berkeley

Past Scientific Committees