The Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research

Award

• The award is a framed citation and carries a cash prize of $5,000.
• The winner will present an award lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Aging Association.

Criteria for Selection

• The Cristofalo awardee should be a research scientist in an early or middle phase of his/her career.
• The candidate should have already made major discoveries in the fundamental biology of aging and whose work is deemed likely to be highly influential for decades to come.
• The typical candidate would be at the level of a late Assistant Professor or early Associate Professor, senior Associate and full Professors are NOT eligible.
• The selection committee should be able to cite a series of research papers, recently published in highly regarded professional journals that have already led to important surprises and already begun to modulate our understanding of fundamental aspects of the genetics, cell biology, or molecular processes of aging.
• The awardees' work should have acquired sufficient momentum, i.e. sufficient speed and direction, to convince the selection committee that discoveries of equal prominence and influence will continue to emerge for many years to come.
• Scientists who have been well known for many years are not ideal as candidates for the Cristofalo award, because the award is instead intended specifically to honor researchers who are in the "rising star" stage of their career trajectories: people who are already highly respected by experts, but whose ascension to national and international eminence is easy to predict but not yet complete.
  

Nomination Instructions

• A single nomination may not include multiple nomination letters, or a letter signed by more than two individuals.
• Nominations should include: 1) A single letter of nomination signed by one or two people that describes the ways in which the person reflects the purpose of the award. 2) The nominee’s full CV.
  
• Upload the nomination package as one PDF here.
  
• Deadline: March 13, 2026