The 2025 Clin-STAR and Beeson Annual Meetings were held in Washington, DC, November 18-21 and were organized by AFAR. These meetings serve as a forum for career development, scientific exchange, mentoring, and networking. The Clin-STAR meeting was held prior to the Beeson meeting and had one overlapping day with the Beeson meeting, providing greater opportunities for networking and mentoring between the two programs.
Clin-STAR meeting
The meeting was attended by current GEMSSTAR Scholars, Clin-STAR pilot awardees, travel awardees, as well as Clin-STAR leadership and NIA program officers. The program included a mix of career development, research sharing, and networking sessions, as well as plenary sessions on Secondary Sources of Data, Engaging Key Partners in Aging Research, and use of AI in Aging Research.
The meeting also included Data Blitz sessions, giving investigators the opportunity to deliver concise overviews of their ongoing work, as well as career development activities, including consultancies, aims page reviews, academic publishing, and speed mentoring. One of the attendees commented “The structured networking and career development opportunities enabled me to grow my network by 10+ people and I came away with new paper collaborations too.”
Beeson Meeting
The Clin-STAR and Beeson community came together in the evening for a shared dinner, where the Beeson Meeting began with a dinner and introduction of the new Beeson Scholars.
The Robin Barr Keynote Address, “FDA Approval and Aging: What is the Real Bottleneck for Translational Geroscience” was given by Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, Co-Founder and Managing Director Jupiter Bioventures, Former Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Former Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a 2003 Beeson Scholar. The meeting included a mix of career development, didactic and research sessions, including a panel discussion on Expandingthe Scope of Leadership.
The Beeson meeting then continued with career development activities for current and alumni Beeson scholars, including consultancies, speed networking sessions, one-on-one mentoring and aims workshops. Along with Graduating Beeson Scholar presentations and Data Blitz sessions showcasing research across the Beeson network.
There was also time for informal networking, most joining the annual sing-along, encouraging participants to continue making lasting connections with their fellow Scholars. One attendee noted “Everyone was engaged, supportive and felt fully committed to my success and improvement. I learned so much in the Aims page session and listening to consultancy questions provided helpful advice I had not considered.”
For more insights from the 2025 Beeson meeting view the presentation slides here.
For more insights from the 2025 Clin-STAR meeting view the presentation slides here.
