On March 14th, 2026, The Washington Post featured insights from AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, and AFAR Grantee and Upstate Nathan Shock Center Director Vera Gorbunova, PhD, exploring exceptional animal longevity.
In addition to being AFAR’s Scientific Director, Dr. Austad is the 2011 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction winner and the Inaugural George M. Martin Award winner. He is the founding director of UAB’s Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, and co-director of the UAB Integrative Center for Aging Research, as well as the Co-Principal Investigator of the Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Center.
Dr. Gorbunova is a 2005 AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty recipient, as well as the Director of the Upstate Nathan Shock Center, part of the Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Centerthat AFAR helps lead for the NIA/NIH.
Read “What Earth’s longest-lived animals can teach us about aging better” here.
Hear more insights from Dr. Austad on studying exceptional animal longevity in our Live Better Longer webinar “Secrets From the Longest-Living Animals on Earth” here.
Explore more of Dr. Gorbunova’s research in our Ask the Expert interview here.
