AFAR Experts in the News: Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, and grantee Vera Gorbudova, PhD on Long-Living Animals on MSN
![AFAR Experts in the News: Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, and grantee Vera Gorbudova, PhD on Long-Living Animals on MSN]()
On November 10th, 2025, MSN featured an article, originally published by ZME Science, focused on exceptional animal longevity. The piece featured insights from AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, and AFAR Grantee and Upstate Nathan Shock Center Director Vera Gorbunova, PhD.
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 Center that AFAR helps lead for the NIA/NIH.
Picked up by MSN, read the original ZME Science article, “The Secret Lives of the World’s Longest-Living Animals Will Change How You Think About Aging” 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.