Sanford Burnham Prebys scientist Peter Adams planned the symposium in partnership with colleagues at the University of California San Diego and Altos Labs.
Researchers gathered in San Diego from September 10-11 to discuss their research findings on the causes and complications of aging at the level of the trillions of cells in our bodies—and the vast array of molecules within each cell.
Peter D. Adams, PhD, the director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, was one of the planners of the meeting, which was held at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa. Adams’ co-planners were Bing Ren, PhD, professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California San Diego, and Morgan Levine, PhD, founding principal investigator at the Altos Labs’ San Diego Institute of Science.
Before the 2024 Molecular and Cellular Aging Meeting kicked off, attendees were welcomed to join the final proceedings of a related meeting of the Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet) Consortium, a large network of U.S. labs and research institutions supported by the National Institutes of Health’s Common Fund.
Adams introduced Ashley Webb, PhD, associate professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, Calif., to give the SenNet meeting’s Judy Campisi Lecture Series keynote address. This series of lectures honors Campisi’s legacy as a leader in the field of cellular senescence, a phenomenon closely tied with aging in which certain cells stop growing and dividing yet persist in a zombie-like state.
Following Webb’s lecture, Adams formally opened the 2024 Molecular and Cellular Aging Meeting. The event featured more than a dozen presentations and several poster sessions.
Artistic interpretation of the presentation delivered by Nancy R. Zhang, PhD, Ge Li and Ning Zhao Professor, a professor of Statistics and Data Science and the vice dean of Wharton Doctoral Programs at the University of Pennsylvania. Image courtesy of Alex Cagan.
“I was excited to see the room so full in anticipation of the great talks and all the fantastic questions and discussion that followed,” said Adams.
“I am happy that we achieved our goal of bringing together SenNet reseachers and other leaders in the molecular and cellular biology of aging. I expect that this catalyzed many new ideas and collaborations.”
Speakers at the event included:
- Vittorio Sebastiano, PhD, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Reproductive and Stem Cell Biology), Stanford University School of Medicine, “Looking at aging and rejuvenation through the lens of development and reproductive biology”
- Zhijian “James” Chen, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science and professor of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, “Igniting the flame—the role of cGAS in senescence and inflammaging”
- Vera Gorbunova, PhD, Doris Johns Cherry Professor and professor of Biology, University of Rochester, “Epigenome maintenance and longevity”
- Jan Karlseder, PhD, senior vice president, chief science officer, professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory and Donald and Darlene Shiley Chair, Salk Institute, “How telomeres synergize with mitochondria to prevent age associated cancer initiation”
- Shelley L. Berger, PhD, Daniel S. Och University Professor, University of Pennsylvania, “Epigenetic-metabolic crosstalk in senescence and aging”
- Levine, “Origins of Life and Death: Aging as an Out-of-Distribution Problem”
- Adams, “The role of aging in cancer”
- Kun Zhang, PhD, principal investigator, Altos Labs’ San Diego Institute of Science, “An aging and injury cell atlas of human kidneys”
- Nancy R. Zhang, PhD, Ge Li and Ning Zhao Professor, professor of Statistics and Data Science and vice dean of Wharton Doctoral Programs, University of Pennsylvania, “Transcriptomic signatures of senescence and aging”
- Alex Cagan, PhD, assistant professor of Genetics, Pathology and Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, “Somatic evolution and ageing across the tree of life”
- Congcong He, PhD, associate professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, “Exercise-induced autophagic protection against age-related metabolic diseases”
- Gerald Shadel, PhD, professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, Audrey Geisel Chair in Biomedical Science and director of the San Diego-Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, Salk Institute, “Mitochondrial stress signaling in aging, disease and immunity”
Peter Adams, PhD
Bing Ren, PhD
Morgan Levine, PhD