Seminar Series
The goals of the Seminar Series are to 1) host internationally recognized speakers who perform cutting-edge research in the field of aging; 2) promote interactions and collaborations among researchers at Boston University campuses engaged in aging research.
Bi-monthly seminar series is held on Tuesdays from 2 pm – 3 pm in the J building, J203, 609 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118 (unless otherwise noted)
If you have suggestions for invited speakers, or if you are interested in presenting your research at the seminar, please e-mail vlabuns@bu.edu
Upcoming seminars:
Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 3:00-4:00pm, via zoom
“Naked mole-rat skin as a model for aging research”
Vladimir Botchkarev, M.D., Ph.D., FRSB
Professor of Dermatology
Boston University
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Past seminars:
BUMC Center for Aging Research Annual Symposium
October 7, 2024 | 3:00 – 5:00* pm
Hiebert Lounge, 72 East Concord Street, L14
*Refreshments to Follow
3:00 – 3:10 pm Opening Remarks by Provost and Dean, Karen Antman, M.D.
| 3:10 – 4:00 pm “Lessons learned from Mitochondria, Cancer and Aging” |
Marcia C. Haigis, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology, co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging Research, and the Director of Gender Equity for Faculty in Science at Harvard Medical School. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and performed postdoctoral studies at MIT studying mitochondrial metabolism. Dr. Haigis is an active member of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Ludwig Center at Harvard Medical School. Her research has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of how mitochondria contribute to human health and diseases of aging. Her studies identified that mitochondria mediate metabolic reprogramming in cancer, including identifying nodes of metabolic vulnerability in the control of fat oxidation in leukemia and metabolic recycling of ammonia to generate amino acids important for tumor growth. Most recently, her work has shed light on our understanding of how diet and obesity regulate anti-tumor immunity. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Brookdale Leadership in Aging Award, the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award, the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award, the National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Program, and the 2023 Samsung Ho-Am Prize in Medicine. |
| 4:00 – 4:50 pm “Quantifying Aging, Longevity and Rejuvenation” |
Vadim Gladyshev, Ph.D. is Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Associate Member at the Broad Institute. Dr. Gladyshev received his undergraduate (1988) and graduate (1992) degrees from Moscow State University, followed by postdoc training at NIH (1992-1997). Dr. Gladyshev was elected to AAAS, recognized as Redox Pioneer and received the Osborne and Mendel Award. In 2021, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He is the recipient of NIH Pioneer, Transformative and Eureka awards to study aging. Dr. Gladyshev’s lab focuses on studying aging, rejuvenation and lifespan control using a combination of experimental and computational approaches. He has published more than 450 articles. |
Wednesday, May 22, 2024, 4:00-5:00pm, via zoom
“Aging, Cellular Senescence, and Senolytics: The Path to Translation”
Jim Kirkland, MD, PhD
Professor, Physiology and Medicine
Endocrinologist, Geriatrician, and
Internist
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 3:00-4:00pm, via zoom
“Transposable elements of the genome and their role in aging”
Andrey Sharov, MD, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Dermatology
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
“Insights into molecular mechanisms of vascular aging”
Francesca Seta, PhD
Associate Professor
Medicine
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Wednesday, January 17, 2024, 3:00-4:00pm, via zoom
“Targeting Senescence to Improve Wound Healing in Aging”
Danny Roh, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
“Wnt/b-catenin Epigenetic Activity Drives Age-associated Cell Plasticity in Oral Cancer”
Maria Kukuruzinska, PhD
Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Translational Dental Medicine
Director, Predoctoral Research Program
Boston University Dental School
Wednesday, November 15th, 3:00-4:00pm, via zoom
“Immune-Aging in the Tumor Niche”
Alison Ringel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor | Department of Biology,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Core Member | Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, Harvard
“Ergothioneine: an example of folk medicine in extending healthspan”
Pinghua Liu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Charles River Campus
BUMC Center for Aging Research Annual Symposium
Wednesday, September 20 2023 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Hiebert Lounge, 72 East Concord Street, L14
Keynote Lecture “The Aging Human Repeatome: Connections to Chronic Inflammation”
John Sedivy, Ph.D.
Hermon C. Bumpus Professor of Biology,
Professor of Medical Science
Director,
Brown Center on the Biology of Aging
“Advances in Geroscience and the Role of Resilience in Aging”
Felipe Sierra, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Hevolution Foundation
Tuesday May 9, 2023 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, via Zoom.
“Stay Strong: Skeletal Muscle and Aging”
LaDora Thompson, PhD, BS, PT
Professor
Department of Physical Therapy
Boston University | College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College
“iPSC-based Modeling of Exceptional Longevity: Understanding the Molecular and Functional Basis of Healthful Aging“
George Murphy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director of Research, Section of Hematology and Oncology
Department of Medicine
Co-Founder Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM)
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Tuesday March 7, 2023 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, via Zoom.
“Effects of the canonical RNA interference pathway on C. elegans lifespan”
Alla Grishok, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Biochemistry
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
“Uncovering the Basis of Alzheimer Disease Using Genetic & Omic Approaches”
Lindsay Farrer, Ph.D.
Chief, Biomedical Genetics
Professor of Genetics Professor of Medicine, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Tuesday January 10, 2023 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, via Zoom.
“Targeting iron homeostasis to promote longer lifespan”
Vyacheslav (Slava) Labunskyy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Dermatology
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
“Examining Aging and the Regulation of Tendon Health Through the Use of Novel Explant Culture Models”
Brianne Connizzo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Boston University, Boston, MA
Tuesday November 29, 2022 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, via Zoom.
“Naked mole-rats as unique model for aging and disease resistance”
Vladimir Botchkarev, M.D., Ph.D., FRSB
Research Associate Professor of Dermatology
Boston University
Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Thursday October 6, 2022 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Inaugural Aging Research Symposium
Hiebert Lounge, 72 East Concord Street
“Centenarian Studies: Every Turn We Come To, There’s Something New!”
Thomas Perls, M.D., MPH began in 1995 and continues to direct the longest running and largest study of centenarians, their siblings and offspring in the world, the New England Centenarian Study. This study of 2500 participants includes over 600 semi-supercentenarians (ages 105-109 years) and 200 supercentenarians (ages 110-119 years). He leads four NIH-funded studies researching exceptional longevity (EL). Areas of investigation include multiple omics (proteins, metabolites, genetic variants and the microbiome) signatures of EL, resilience and resistance to Alzheimer’s disease in centenarian cognitive superagers, cancer, and familial clustering for EL. Tom is a Robert Evans Dawson Evans Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. He received his Geriatrics training at both Mount Royal Hospital in Melbourne, Australia and at Harvard Medical School and he obtained his Masters in Public Health at Harvard. He is a senior physician in Geriatrics, cares for patients at Boston Medical Center and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, The American Geriatrics Society and the Gerontological Society of America.
“Sirtuins, NAD+ and Aging”
Leonard Guarente, Ph.D. is the Novartis Professor of Biology, Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging Research at MIT and an affiliate of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. His lab discovered the role of a family of proteins termed sirtuins in aging and disease and the function of sirtuins as NAD+ dependent protein deacetylases. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and recipient of the AFAR highest achievement award for aging research. He is currently analyzing aging of the human brain and how it relates to neurodegenerative diseases. He is on the editorial boards of Cell, Cell Metabolism, Genes and Development, Trends in Genetics, EMBO Reports, Aging, and Experimental Gerontology. He is a founder of Elysium Health and Galilei BioSciences, and on the scientific advisory boards of Segterra, and Sebelius.
Tuesday March 8, 2022 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
BUMC Center for Aging Research Kick-off meeting
Thursday January 6, 2022 at 12:00 pm
“Aging Regulation by Chromatin-Regulated Stress Response Mechanisms – New Lessons Learned from the Budding Yeast”
Weiwei Dang, PhD
Assistant Professor
Huffington Center on Aging
Baylor College of MedicineHouston, TX