Advancing Research
by funding Grant Programs and Fellowships
Driving Innovation
by guiding studies such as the FAST Initiative, the SuperAgers Initiative, and the TAME Trial
Furthering the Field
by supporting the infrastructure of three NIA Initiatives and leading the Amplifying Geroscience Initiative.
Top Breakthroughs driven by AFAR Experts
Delaying Disease by Targeting Aging
Saving Costs by Extending Healthspan
What are the Hallmarks of Aging?
What is Geroscience?
What is the Longevity Dividend?
Posted February 14, 2018
In July, AFAR presented its 2017 Honorary Leadership Award to Nathaniel “Ned” David, Ph.D. for his dedication to healthy aging and his role in helping advance some of the most significant research discoveries and potential interventions.
A biochemist and biotech entrepreneur who has founded four visionary biotech companies, Dr. David co-founded UNITY in 2011 along with three of the leading researchers in the field of cellular senescence, including AFAR grantee Judith Campisi, Ph.D.
In his acceptance speech, David spoke passionately about how AFAR’s early support of Campisi’s research has made a major impact on UNITY and the field.
He explained how Dr. Campisi’s $50,000 AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty in 1990 enabled her to generate sufficient data on cellular senescence to get her first National Science Foundation grant, which lead to two National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants.
“Fast forward 30 years,” David said, “and we now have an entire field birthed by AFAR’s long-sighted vision and $50,000. Building on those seminal discoveries, pioneering research by UNITY’s co-founders has now shown the correlations between cellular senescence and various diseases of aging. And UNITY has been able to raise $162 million to ask and answer the question: Does the elimination of senescent cells prevent, delay or even reverse certain diseases of aging?”
Watch his speech here.
