Recently, the Geroscience Network, led by AFAR board members, Steven Austad, PhD (Scientific Director), Nir Barzilai, MD (Deputy Scientific Director), and James Kirkland, MD, PhD, published six manuscripts that map strategies for moving new drugs that target processes underlying aging into clinical trials.
These AFAR experts believe that these agents hold promise for treating multiple age-related diseases and disabilities. Read the complete manuscripts in the Journal of Gerontology Series A - Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.
Manuscript topics include:
• "Barriers to the Preclinical Development of Therapeutics That Target Aging Mechanisms"
• "Frameworks for Proof-of-Concept Clinical Trials of Interventions That Target Fundamental Aging Processes"
• "Strategies and Challenges in Clinical Trials Targeting Human Aging"
• "Resilience in Aging Mice"
• "Evaluating Health Span in Preclinical Models of Aging and Disease: Guidelines, Challenges, and Opportunities for Geroscience"
• "Moving Geroscience Into Uncharted Waters"
A range of AFAR grantees also contributed, including: Christin Burd, PhD (2014 AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty); Derek Huffman, PhD (2009 Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Postdoctoral Fellow ; 2015 AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty); and Sofiya Milman, MD (2012 Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Postdoctoral Fellow; 2015 Beeson Career Development Award in Aging Research).
Read each manuscript here.
Steven Austad, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor and Department Chair at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.
Nir Barzilai, MD, is the Director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a two-time AFAR grant recipient.
James Kirkland, MD, PhD, is the director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging at the Mayo Clinic and the 2012 recipient of a Glenn/AFAR Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award.
The Geroscience Network consists of 18 academic aging centers, along with the participation of more than 100 investigators from across the U.S. and Europe. The network is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
