Explore every episode of the podcast Translating Aging
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
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| A Promise Kept — Phase 1 Data for a 7-KC-Clearing Drug (Oki O'Connor, Cyclarity Tx) | 17 Jun 2026 | 00:40:13 | |
Matthew "Oki" O'Connor is the CEO of Scientific Affairs at Cyclarity Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech building a new class of medicines designed not to slow the accumulation of vascular damage but to reverse it. Oki and Chris first crossed paths as postdocs at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in the mid-2000s — Oki was in Irina Conboy's lab, not far from the late Judy Campisi's group, where Chris was then working on cellular senescence. After Berkeley, Oki spent nearly a decade running the research program at the SENS Research Foundation, the organization most identified with the "damage repair" framing of aging biology, before co-founding Cyclarity (then known as Underdog Pharmaceuticals) in 2019 to translate one of SENS's most drug-tractable ideas into an actual molecule. When Oki was last on the show in March of 2023 (Episode 36), Cyclarity was deep in IND-enabling work and its lead asset, UDP-003, had only ever seen the inside of a mouse artery. At the end of that conversation, Chris asked what Oki hoped to be discussing the next time he visited. He answered, bluntly, that he wanted to be presenting human data. Last month, at the AHA Vascular Discovery Sessions, Cyclarity reported the results of their first-in-human Phase 1 trial of UDP-003 — a designed cyclodextrin that selectively binds 7-ketocholesterol, the oxidized cholesterol species that drives foam cell formation and arterial plaque. He's back to discuss what the drug actually did when it went hunting for 7KC inside a living human being. In this episode, Chris and Oki cover the unmet need that lipid-lowering drugs — statins, PCSK9 inhibitors, the coming Lp(a) agents — still don't address: none of them remove the damage already sitting in an artery wall. Oki explains the basic chemistry of 7-ketocholesterol and why macrophages, lacking the machinery to recycle it, collapse into foam cells and seed the necrotic core of advanced plaque. They walk through the engineering of UDP-003 as a dimeric beta-cyclodextrin "double cone" tuned for a single oxidized cholesterol species, the design of the 72-volunteer Australian Phase 1, and the exploratory pharmacodynamic readout that has the field's attention: dose-dependent urinary excretion of 7KC, stoichiometric with drug, cleared within a day. The conversation then turns to the 150-patient Phase 2 plan in coronary artery disease patients with plaque imaging as the primary biological readout, the funding math that stands between Cyclarity and that trial, the platform's reach into NASH, vascular dementia, AMD, and aging itself, and how all of this descends from the SENS damage-repair philosophy that Oki has been carrying since LBL. The Finer Details: - Why current standard of care is not enough — statins, PCSK9 inhibitors, GLP-1s, and the soon-to-arrive Lp(a) lowering agents all act by slowing the accumulation of arterial damage, not by reversing what's already there; despite 30 years on the market, statins have never demonstrated an all-cause mortality benefit in a clinical trial, and even the best statin imaging data shows only 1–2% plaque volume regression at very high doses in a subset of patients - The scale of the problem — atherosclerosis is estimated to contribute to roughly 40% of all human deaths once heart attack, stroke, and a surprisingly large COPD contribution are risk-adjusted in, on top of an enormous morbidity tail that includes angina, peripheral artery disease (up to and including amputation), and a growing case for vascular dementia as an undercounted driver of cognitive decline - The biology of 7-ketocholesterol — when an oxygen free radical reacts with cholesterol, it preferentially attacks the 7 position, and a second oxidation step locks the molecule into 7KC, a stable toxic species cells were essentially never equipped to recycle; it builds up in long-lived cells like macrophages, eventually shutting down their ability to traffic lipids back to the liver via HDL and converting them into foam cells that seed soft plaque and, over years, the necrotic core of advanced lesions - The molecular design of UDP-003 — cyclodextrins are naturally occurring carbohydrate rings; the beta size fits half a cholesterol molecule, and Cyclarity's in silico work showed that two beta-cyclodextrins facing wide-side to wide-side form a "double cone" that can fully encapsulate a single cholesterol; engineered correctly, that wrapper can be made selective for 7KC over native membrane cholesterol, which is what gives the drug its therapeutic window - The Phase 1 trial design and result — a traditional 72-volunteer safety study in Australia, split between single ascending dose and multiple ascending dose arms, escalating up to six doses at what Cyclarity believes will be the efficacious level; no serious adverse events, no bioaccumulation, drug excreted essentially completely in the urine (as predicted preclinically), and — the headline exploratory endpoint — dose-dependent urinary 7-ketocholesterol appearing on the same timescale as the drug, consistent with one molecule of UDP-003 binding one molecule of 7KC and leaving the body together - What the urinary 7KC readout can and cannot tell you — the easiest 7KC to mobilize is the free pool in circulation, but there is not nearly enough of it floating in the bloodstream to account for what came out in urine, which means the drug is reaching deeper compartments; how much is coming from vessel wall plaque versus liver versus other peripheral tissues will require the imaging endpoints of Phase 2 to answer - The Phase 2 plan — 150 coronary artery disease patients (the coronary being, as Oki puts it, the artery most likely to kill you), with baseline plaque imaging, a year of dosing, and a repeat scan; safety and PK continue, inflammatory biomarkers come on, and plaque volume change is the prize — for context, a 1% change in plaque volume is associated with roughly a 20% change in next-year risk of heart attack or stroke - The funding math and the platform — Cyclarity has raised $33M to date and needs roughly $45M more to run the Phase 2, with Phase 3 cardiovascular outcomes trials running into the hundreds of millions and likely requiring a pharma partner; beyond atherosclerosis, 7KC is elevated in NASH livers, in Alzheimer's brains, and in the retinal cells that die in age-related macular degeneration, and the underlying chemistry — designed binders that drag a specific toxic molecule out of the body — is meant to generalize into a pipeline against other accumulated damage species, the direct intellectual descendant of the SENS damage-repair program Quotes:
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| Beyond senolytics: senoadaptive drugs & clinical data on GPX4 modulation (Dr. Marco Quarta, Rubedo) | 20 May 2026 | 00:46:37 | |
Marco Quarta is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Rubedo Life Sciences, a precision-therapeutics company developing medicines that target the pathological cell states that drive age-associated disease. Marco's first appearance on the show was three years ago, in February 2023 (Episode 35), when Rubedo was a much earlier-stage company committed to the then-contrarian premise that "the senescent cell" is not a single entity but a heterogeneous family of cell states that needs to be deconvoluted at the single-cell level. In March 2026, Rubedo reported preliminary Phase 1b/2a clinical data for its lead candidate, RLS-1496, a first-in-class topical GPX4 modulator. Marco returns to the show to discuss what survived contact with human biology. In this episode, Chris and Marco unpack the readout from Rubedo's basket trial across four skin indications — psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, actinic keratosis, and photoaged skin — and the biology that underlies it. RLS-1496 came clean on safety in all four indications, with significant efficacy signals despite small patient numbers and short (20–30 day) treatment courses. More provocatively, the clinical and translational data have pushed Marco to redefine what kind of drug this actually is. Rather than a next-generation senolytic, GPX4 modulation appears to act as a state-gating intervention: it triggers ferroptosis in deeply senescent cells that have already crossed a redox threshold, while inducing a hormetic "redox reset" in stressed-but-recoverable cells that restores them to a healthier state. Marco proposes a new category to capture this dual action — adaptive senotherapeutics, or senoadaptive drugs — distinct from senolytics and senomorphics. The conversation traces the arc from Rubedo's founding thesis to a clinically validated platform (ALEMBIC, the AI-enabled single-cell multiomics engine that surfaced GPX4 as a target), through the strategic logic of leading with skin, into the broader question every longevity-biotech founder eventually has to answer: when does a disease-by-disease franchise become a credible preventive geroscience platform? Marco lays out the GLP-1 analogy explicitly — an anchor indication and a label-expansion roadmap that could carry GPX4 modulation from dermatology into respiratory, neurodegenerative, and metabolic disease, and ultimately into the use case where biomarkers of cellular senescence flag patients for therapy decades before disease becomes clinically apparent. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "There is not such a thing as a senescent cell — like there is not a cancer cell. And that was the initial idea. I'm glad that over time the field evolved. Now this is an accepted concept in the senotherapeutic space." "We are really talking about a dual function of RLS-1496 that can modulate the cell state depending on the adaptive response. That's why we call this — de facto — a new class of senotherapeutics. We call them adaptive senotherapeutics, or senoadaptive drugs — not a senolytic or a senomorphic, but working by modulating the cell state." "The best animal model for human therapies is human. As much as you can do preclinical work in animal models, it's always an approximation. We were able to test this directly in patients for safety, and in 4 out of 4 indications, we didn't have any safety signal." "Imagine you're taking care of a growing tree, and this tree has some dead leaves and some are a little bit stressed. If you shake the tree, the dead leaves will fall; the healthy leaves will not, because they're healthy and they resist the shake. But that shake actually gives the stressed leaves space and breathing room, and helps them to regain vitality. That's a little bit what GPX4 modulation does." "Senotherapeutics is a large, growing field — an untapped therapeutic opportunity. There is no such thing as a pan-senolytic or a pan-senotherapeutic, like there is no pan-oncotherapeutic. You need to understand the context. But these will all be part of the arsenal for true longevity medicine." "I don't see this as prevention of disease. The way I see therapies like ours, and the way the field of longevity is developing, is treating diseases decades before they develop. That's not a new concept — that's what we're doing in diabetes. You can be diagnosed with prediabetes today and reverse those biomarkers with lifestyle changes or metformin, and maybe never develop diabetes. That's exactly what we're doing here." "First of all, celebrating the first approved drugs from Rubedo — I don't think we're too far from that. But that's also a beginning, because you learn from the big momentum the GLP-1 agonists created: how a drug can start in one indication, create a new field, and prove that you can go beyond that. I hope in a few years we come back and talk about the next GLP-1 — this could be GPX4 modulators, or the senoadaptive drugs that are first in our pipeline." Links:
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| Investing in the Future of Longevity (Sergey Jakimov, Managing Partner, LongeVC) | 13 Aug 2025 | 00:51:28 | |
Sergey Jakimov is the Managing Partner and co-founder of LongeVC, one of Europe's most active longevity-focused venture capital firms, currently raising its second fund targeting $250 million. In this episode, Chris and Sergey explore the investment landscape shaping longevity biotechnology today. They discuss LongeVC's pragmatic approach to longevity investing—focusing on disease-modifying therapies rather than targeting aging itself—and why this strategy has been successful across their portfolio. Sergey shares insights from major successes including Rubedo's partnership with Beiersdorf and Turn Bio's deal with HanAll, explaining what these deals signal about pharma's evolving interest in longevity approaches. The conversation covers critical topics for researchers and entrepreneurs: common pitfalls in academic spin-offs, the importance of clear regulatory pathways, and how the upcoming patent cliff is creating new opportunities for early-stage biotechs in the longevity space. Listeners will gain valuable insights into what makes a longevity company investable, how to navigate the transition from academic research to commercial venture, and why solving age-related diseases one by one may ultimately lead to a holistic understanding of aging itself. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "Longevity as an industry is by far the industry with the biggest added value out there, because that is the issue that we all share. Without solving these things, none of the other stuff really matters—not FinTech, not blockchain, not sustainability." "Five scientists in a room generally don't make a company. Prolonging rodent lives does not make a company either." "The ultimate longevity drug version 1.0 would be a therapeutic which has an original disease indication, which also has somehow cracked the mechanism of action that would be translatable across several age-related disease domains." "It is extremely arrogant for the space to say that we're not interested in age-related diseases, like we're not interested in curing the diseases. That's traditional biotech. We're not that. We are the longevity space." "Pharma is still thinking in terms of assets rather than processes. It is almost impossible to sell a process to them... What pharma still wants is the result of that capacity actually coming to life." "At the point when something has happened to you and a rare disease has happened to you... you're only equipped with that standard of treatment that is currently available and that has made it to the clinic." "I think the presence of the FDA as this kind of gatekeeper-type agency saying, 'No, you cannot go after aging in a romanticized way. You actually need to focus yourself'—that benefits the field much more than it hurts the field." | |||
| Molecules to medicine: The translational landscape of aging interventions (Panel discussion at BAAM 2025) | 09 Jul 2025 | 00:47:59 | |
In this special episode, host Chris Patil (VP-Media, BioAge) moderates a live panel discussion at the 25th Bay Area Aging Meeting at UCSF, bringing together six leading voices across the aging research ecosystem to tackle one of the field's most critical challenges: how to move promising discoveries from the laboratory to therapies that can benefit patients. The distinguished panel spans academia, industry, and scientific publishing, featuring Janine Sengstack (CEO, Junevity), Saul Villeda (Professor, UCSF), Jodi Nunnari (Director, Bay Area Institute of Science, Altos Labs), Sebastien Thuault (Chief Editor, Nature Aging), Anne Brunet (Professor, Stanford), and Nir Barzilai (Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine). Together, they explore the most promising research directions for clinical impact, the revolutionary tools enabling modern aging research, and the structural challenges that must be overcome to bring longevity therapies to market. Listeners will gain insights into the emerging science of cellular rejuvenation, the importance of systemic factors in aging, how to balance high-risk discovery with practical drug development, and the cultural shifts needed to better prepare the next generation of scientists for translational work. The panel also addresses the regulatory challenges of targeting aging itself as an indication and offers candid advice for young researchers navigating this rapidly evolving field. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "Our goal as a company is to increase human health span, and the way I like to frame that more colloquially is we want to increase the number of happy, healthy years each person gets to spend on Earth." - Janine Sengstack "There is an exquisite amount of plasticity left in an aging organism, both within the tissues, within the cells. There is plasticity that we can actually tap into." - Saul Villeda "Burn bright, but don't burn out." - Jodi Nunnari "The challenge that we run into is that there are so many combinations that very quickly it would become intractable to line up enough test tubes to test them all." - Sebastien Thuault, on the complexity of aging interventions "We love our job. If not, we would not be doing it. I would do it again in a heartbeat... you get paid to play, to ask the questions that interest you, the approaches that interest you to play with who you want to—it is a fantastic job." - Saul Villeda "Our life is a life of rejection...and still, we're having fun and making an advance. So don't give up." - Nir Barzilai | |||
| Partial epigenetic reprogramming: the "holy grail" for aging therapeutics (Michael Ringel, Life Biosciences) | 04 Jun 2025 | 00:37:57 | |
Michael Ringel is the Chief Operating Officer of Life Biosciences, a biotechnology company pioneering cellular rejuvenation therapies to reverse and prevent multiple diseases of aging. Michael became COO of Life just a few months ago, but he's been advising the company since 2018. Prior to this year, he was managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where over a 25-year career he focused on R&D and innovation initiatives across the private sector and government. He earned his PhD in biology at Imperial College London and a JD from Harvard Law, and has become an active and highly respected member of the global longevity biotech community. In this episode, Chris and Michael explore Life Biosciences' groundbreaking approach to partial epigenetic reprogramming - the "holy grail" technology that could transform how we age at cellular, tissue, and organism levels. They discuss how this approach taps into the same biology that makes babies young, Life's lead therapeutic candidate ER-100 for eye diseases, and the "pipeline in a pill" concept at the core of the geroscience hypothesis: the idea that enable single interventions based on longevity science could treat multiple age-related diseases simultaneously. The Finer Details:
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| Cell Reset Therapeutics to Extend Healthspan and Lifespan (Janine Sengstack, Junevity) | 02 Apr 2025 | 00:36:43 | |
Dr. Janine Sengstack is the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Junevity, a company created in 2023 with the mission of extending health span and lifespan through what they term "Cell Reset therapeutics." The company recently secured $10 million in seed funding. In this episode, Chris and Janine explore the innovative platform Janine developed during her PhD work in Hao Li's lab at UCSF, which now forms the foundation of Junevity's therapeutic approach. They discuss how the company uses computational and experimental methods to identify transcription factors that can "reset" cells from a diseased, aged state back to a healthy state while maintaining cell identity. Janine explains how Junevity is developing siRNA therapeutics targeting these transcription factors to treat age-related diseases, with a focus on metabolic conditions and other disorders that impact longevity. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "We tackled this high risk, high reward PhD project: we were inspired by the Yamanaka factors to say, 'Okay, let's find brand new transcription factors that we can target to take cells from a diseased, old state and bring them back to a healthy state while keeping them the same cell type, never turning them into a stem cell.'" "Transcription factors: I like to think of them as managers in the cell." "We think the advent of modern AI and machine learning tools to better analyze what they regulate, plus siRNA as a really well-proven therapeutic modality, really unlocks the ability to target transcription factors and really make powerful therapeutics with them." "We're thinking about using transcriptional regulation as a way to come up with novel therapeutics to treat diseases that have a big impact on people's health span and lifespan." "We want to advance our programs towards development candidates, which basically means the drug entity, and move them forward towards clinical development as fast as possible." "I would love if we had multiple siRNA drugs on the market, ideally, or in late stages of development for a wide range of longevity-related diseases... We think that there's really huge potential here for making a big impact on a lot of different really complicated diseases." Links | |||
| Building the Infrastructure for Longevity Medicine: ARPA-H's PROSPR Program (Dr. Andrew Brack, Program Manager) | 09 Jan 2025 | 00:40:29 | |
Dr. Andrew Brack, Program Manager at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), discusses PROSPR (Proactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience), an ambitious new program aimed at extending human healthspan. In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and Andrew explore how PROSPR plans to accelerate the development of therapies that target aging itself by building the regulatory and scientific infrastructure needed to measure and improve health during aging. They discuss PROSPR's innovative approaches to in-home data collection, biomarker development, and clinical trial design that could compress decades-long studies into just three years. The Finer Details:
Quote: "We have this moral imperative to close the gap between the length that we are living and the number of years that we're living in good health." Links: | |||
| Decoding Stem Cell Rejuvenation Factors (Markus Gstöttner, CEO of Clock.bio) | 20 Nov 2024 | 00:26:46 | |
Markus Gstöttner is the CEO of Clock.bio, a company devoted to extending and improving the quality of life by reversing the harmful effects of time in our cells. In this episode, Gstöttner shares how his company is working to extend healthspan by understanding and harnessing the natural rejuvenation capabilities of stem cells. The conversation explores Clock.bio's groundbreaking approach to identifying the genes and pathways involved in cellular rejuvenation, and their vision for translating these discoveries into therapies. The Finer Details:
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| Eliminating Pathogenic Cells to Treat Disease (Adam Freund & Remi Laberge, Arda Therapeutics) | 30 Oct 2024 | 00:45:51 | |
Adam Freund (CEO) and Remi Laberge (CTO) are the founders of Arda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing novel therapies that selectively eliminate harmful cell populations driving chronic diseases. In this episode, they discuss their innovative approach to treating conditions like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by identifying and removing specific cell types that cause tissue damage, rather than trying to modify cellular behavior through traditional drug approaches. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "Cells make up tissues. Tissues make up organisms... If you have the right cell at the right place, everything looks good. If you have the wrong cell at the wrong place, doing the wrong thing, the tissue will decay." "We position our strategy as an alternative to traditional pathway targeting... changing cell behavior by blocking a single node could be quite challenging." "This is game changer for the patient experience. If we're successful, our drug will be administered once a quarter, once every six months. But during that time, this patient feels like he is not a patient. He doesn't take a drug, he's not under treatment, and doesn't have the side effect of taking those drugs." "We think that cell depletion is a broadly applicable strategy across many chronic diseases, including potentially aging itself one day." "In 10 years from now... we will know precisely which cells to eliminate. Now, will we be allowed to do it in an otherwise healthy patient? That's a different type of question." | |||
| Precision Epigenetic Medicines to Extend Healthspan (Alex Aravanis, Moonwalk Biosciences) | 09 Oct 2024 | 00:42:04 | |
Alex Aravanis is the CEO and co-founder of Moonwalk Biosciences, a biotechnology company pioneering precision epigenetic medicines. In this episode, Chris and Alex discuss Moonwalk's innovative approach to developing a new class of medicines aimed at treating complex diseases and potentially extending human healthspan. The Finer Details:
Quotes: Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity. "In the past, I've heard people refer to the DNA as the blueprint of biology, and I don't quite like that analogy. I think of it as more like the hardware, and the epigenome is the source code — the epigenome is responsible for the complex coordination of different genes that lead to proteins, and the temporal aspects of those so it's really how the hardware is used to make and maintain and change different cell types." "We're opening up the epigenome as a platform for drug discovery. The vast majority of the genome is not the coding regions, but it's incredibly important in controlling gene expression. So there's a lot of biology in there to inform our selection of targets, and we think that could dramatically improve both the number of interesting targets and our ability to select targets. The data that we're creating, our expertise, and our computational tools make us amongst the best in the world at using the epigenome for drug discovery." Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to: podcast@biohagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge website: https://bioagelabs.com BioAge Twitter: [@bioagelabs] | |||
| Hevolution: Extending Global Healthspan (Dr. Mehmood Khan, CEO) | 17 Jul 2024 | 00:43:14 | |
In this episode, Chris Patil speaks with Dr. Mehmood Khan, CEO of Hevolution Foundation, about the organization's mission to extend healthy human lifespan and better understand the aging process. Dr. Khan discusses Hevolution's unique approach to funding global scientific discovery and investing in private companies dedicated to advancing aging science. He shares insights into the challenges and opportunities in the field of longevity research, the importance of global collaboration, and the potential impact of extending healthspan on societies worldwide. The Finer Details:
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| Harnessing the Secretome to Combat Age-Related Immune Dysfunction (Dr. Hans Keirstead, Immunis) | 08 May 2024 | 00:47:38 | |
Hans Keirstead, PhD, is the Chairman of the Board at Immunis, a biotechnology company researching and developing immune secretome products to address age-driven immune deficits. In this episode, Chris and Hans discuss Immunis' approach to targeting the aging immune system as a key driver of age-related disease. They explore the potential of immune secretome factors to restore youthful immune function, the promising results from Immunis' preclinical and early clinical studies, and the future of immune-modulating therapeutics to extend healthspan. THE FINER DETAILS
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| Delaying menopause, extending healthspan: The promise of AMH-based therapeutics (Daisy Robinton, Oviva Therapeutics) | 03 Apr 2024 | 00:36:35 | |
Dr. Daisy Robinton, co-founder and CEO of Oviva Therapeutics, discusses the company's innovative approach to improving women's healthspan by targeting the biology of ovarian aging. Motivated by her personal experiences and the realization that female physiology is underserved by research and medicine, Daisy outlines how menopause is a key inflection point in the acceleration of aging in women. She explains the central role of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) in regulating ovarian function and fertility. Oviva's lead program, a recombinant enhanced AMH protein, aims to improve IVF outcomes by synchronizing follicle growth. Excitingly, this approach could also preserve ovarian reserve to delay menopause onset, thereby extending female healthspan. Key Topics Covered:
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| Gene Therapies to Treat and Reverse Aging (Noah Davidsohn, Rejuvenate Bio) | 20 Mar 2024 | 00:35:14 | |
Dr. Noah Davidsohn, co-founder and CSO of Rejuvenate Bio, discusses the company's innovative work using gene therapies to treat age-related diseases in dogs and humans. In his conversation with host Chris Patil, he explains his recent groundbreaking study showing that partial cellular reprogramming with Yamanaka factors extended lifespan and healthspan in very old mice. Noah then outlines Rejuvenate's clinical pipeline, including targeting longevity pathways like FGF-21 for heart disease and combining TGF-beta inhibition with klotho for osteoarthritis. By choosing secreted factors deliverable with liver-targeted gene therapy, Rejuvenate hopes to circumvent delivery challenges. Noah conveys an inspiring vision of adding healthy years to dogs' and humans' lives. Key Topics Covered:
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| 30 Years of Aging Biology: A Pioneer's Perspective (Cynthia Kenyon, VP-Aging Research at Calico Labs) | 06 Dec 2023 | 00:44:06 | |
30 Years of Aging Biology: A Pioneer’s Perspective (Cynthia Kenyon - VP Aging Biology, Calico Labs) Dr. Cynthia Kenyon reflects on the evolution of the longevity field over the 30 years since the publication of her groundbreaking paper, “A C. elegans mutant that lives twice as long as wild type,” a genetic analysis of one of the first single-gene mutations to extend lifespan in the worm. She recounts the initial excitement and skepticism around the idea of a pathway that regulates aging, and subsequent validation of this and related ideas in a wide range of model organisms. She also discusses her longstanding belief in the translational potential to improve human healthspan, and her experience as a co-founder of one of the first longevity biotech startups, Elixir Pharmaceuticals, in 1999. Based on her unique historical perspective—and with undiminished enthusiasm—she looks ahead to the unsolved mysteries that will propel the next generation of breakthroughs. Key ideas:
Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| XPRIZE Healthspan: Catalyzing Therapies for Aging (Jamie Justice, PhD) | 29 Nov 2023 | 00:55:16 | |
Dr. Jamie Justice is Executive Director of the newly launched XPRIZE Healthspan, a $101 M international competition to accelerate therapeutics targeting aging biology. In conversation with host Chris Patil, Dr. Justice outlines the motivation, structure, and timeline of the prize, as well as how teams can get involved. She also explains unique aspects of this prize, including the public commentary period, how existing trials can be adapted for competition, functional endpoints, and judging criteria. She also conveys why coordination is needed to overcome barriers and drive investment in longevity R&D. Listeners will gain key insights into this ambitious initiative to catalyze progress translating research into treatments for aging. Key ideas:
Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| "How We Age: The Science of Longevity" (Professor Coleen Murphy, Princeton) | 01 Nov 2023 | 00:36:33 | |
Dr. Coleen Murphy is a prominent aging researcher and author of the upcoming book “How We Age: The Science of Longevity” from Princeton University Press. In this wide-ranging discussion, Coleen provides insights into her motivation for writing this book, key topics covered, and her unique perspective on the field. Key ideas:
Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| From Startup to Acquisition (Nick Hertz, Mitokinin) | 11 Oct 2023 | 00:41:59 | |
Dr. Nicholas Hertz is the co-founder and former CSO of Mitokinin, a biotech company developing therapies targeting damaged mitochondria in neurodegenerative disease. Mitokinin was recently acquired by pharmaceutical giant AbbVie. In this episode, Nick recounts the journey from academic research on PINK1 biology to founding a startup and advancing a clinical candidate. He provides insights into the drug discovery process, optimizing lead compounds, translating basic findings into therapies, and partnering with big pharma. Nick also shares lessons learned along the way about focusing on robust science, being adaptable, and maintaining ambition to help patients. Key topics covered:
Notable Quotes: (edited slightly for clarity and length) "What PINK1 does is signal when mitochondria have gone bad and need to be cleared away." "Seeing PINK1 mutations lead to early Parkinson's cemented the link between mitochondrial health and neurodegeneration." "The biggest challenge was getting enough brain exposure and potency for in vivo efficacy." "We developed assays to measure phospho-ubiquitin levels in patient samples and use it as a pharmacodynamic marker." "With AbbVie, we were aligned on making a safe drug you'd feel comfortable giving to your own family." "I enjoyed the journey more than the destination. Now I want to get back in the lab and do more science." "Focus on projects you believe in and doing the most robust, reproducible science." "I consider failing to help patients in Phase 3 trials a failure, even if you already exited successfully." Links: Mitokinin website (this link may become obsolete as Mitokinin becomes part of AbbVie) Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Catalyzing moonshots in longevity biotech (Alex Colville, Age1) | 27 Sep 2023 | 00:40:34 | |
Dr. Alex Colville is the co-founder and General Partner of Age1 Ventures, a recently launched VC firm focused on funding contrarian, founder-led biotech companies aiming to extend healthy human lifespan. In this episode, Alex outlines Age1's thesis of identifying and empowering talented founders with ambitious visions for the longevity field. He shares his own journey to VC, including early interests in aging science and entrepreneurship. Alex provides an inside look at Age1's approach to community building, sourcing high-potential founders, investing at the pre-seed/seed stage, and supporting companies technologically and strategically. He also discusses Age1's very first investment in Aperture Therapeutics. Listeners will gain insights into how Age1 aims to catalyze change in the longevity biotech ecosystem. Key topics covered:
Notable Quotes: (quotes have been lightly edited for clarity) "A fund is a vehicle of money devoted to making investments to return capital with more money than you started with." "Once you have the money, your focus becomes finding the best founders and supporting them to increase the odds of success." "The best founders don't necessarily realize they could be a founder. We can help show people they can just dive in." "What matters most to us is not the idea, but the founder and their potential." "We want somebody with a very strong mission motivation towards aging. This core focus ends up being a huge strength of the company." "We look for a combination of pragmatism and moonshot mentality." "Our goal is to give people agency over how long they live in good health.” “Age1 needs to exist in order to convince some of the raw, ambitious talent that they can do things they don't yet know that they can do—in order to pull off moonshots.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Reversing Skin Aging at the Cellular Level (Carolina Reis Oliveira and Alessandra Zonari, OneSkin) | 23 Aug 2023 | 00:35:51 | |
Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira and Dr. Alessandra Zonari are the co-founders of OneSkin, a company developing science-backed skincare products to reverse skin aging at the cellular level. In this episode, Carolina and Alessandra tell host Dr. Chris Patil how OneSkin is leveraging recent advances in longevity science to create novel peptides that target senescent cells and inflammation in aged skin. Their lead ingredient, OS-1, is a peptide capable of reducing biological age and senescence burden in human skin models.They explain their rigorous discovery process, including screening peptide libraries in cellular models of skin aging, which were described in a recent paper in Nature Aging. Next, they share how they translated this scientific research into an effective, consumer-friendly skincare product line and brand. Listeners will gain insights into OneSkin's unique approach bridging cosmetics and cutting-edge geroscience. Key topics:
Quotes: Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity. "Obviously, we look at our skin from the lens of aesthetics or of beauty. But our skin is our largest organ, and its main function is to protect our whole body against pathogens and different types of environmental stressors. As the skin ages and deteriorates, the function also gets compromised." “That's one of the things that we're interested in and exploring at OneSkin: not only how to improve your appearance, but also how to improve your skin function so it can aid in your overall health.” "We realized none of the products out there were developed with the rationale of targeting aging itself." "When we treat dermal fibroblasts with this peptide, we could decrease the amount of senescent cells by 40–50%." "More and more, the population is getting educated. They don't want just marketing claims, they want to understand and trust brands that can really bring proof." "People are more open to say, okay, if I need to put something on my skin, I should use a company that's actually doing real science." "Our primary goal is to continue to be the most innovative company when it comes to skin aging, and to continue to be at the forefront of aging research applied to skin." Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Discovering New Senolytics with Neural Networks (Felix Wong, Integrated Biosciences) | 09 Aug 2023 | 00:37:01 | |
Dr. Felix Wong is a co-founder of Integrated Biosciences, an early-stage biotech company developing next-generation therapeutics for cellular rejuvenation. He is also a postdoc at MIT and the Broad Institute and was a lead author on a recent Nature Aging paper describing the use of graph neural networks to discover new senolytic compounds. In this episode, Felix and host Chris Patil have an in-depth discussion about using machine learning to accelerate drug discovery, specifically to target cellular senescence. They explore how graph neural networks were trained on screening data to evaluate large chemical spaces and identify new senolytic molecules with medicinal properties superior to those of previously known compounds. Key topics:
Quotes: Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity. "We found that machine learning models might allow us to more productively search chemical space and increase our working hit rates." "What was fascinating to us about senescence cells is that, unlike other pathologies or diseases, these cells are not really characterized by a single target." "The quality of any machine learning model is limited by the quality of the training data. And that in turn is limited by how good your screens are, and how good your understanding of the biology is." “That's really what machine learning is doing, trying to think about things in a very high dimensional manner. And then trying to build models that help to separate what is positive and what is negative.” “So what ideally we would want is for any model to be able to generalize, to be able to predict chemical scaffolds that the model has not previously seen, and positively identify those scaffolds as new senolytics.” "Ideally, we would like to treat aging and age-related diseases, just like how antibiotics treat bacterial infections." “At Integrated, we're trying to kind of look at these stress responses holistically. We think that senescence is only a piece of the bigger puzzle.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| “Taking disease by sTORm”: Developing Rapalogs to Extend Healthy Lifespan (Joan Mannick, Tornado Therapeutics) | 26 Jul 2023 | 00:29:16 | |
Joan Mannick, CEO and co-Founder of Tornado Therapeutics, joins the podcast to discuss her company’s exciting mission of developing a new generation of rapalog compounds specifically targeting the TORC1 complex. Rapalogs are analogs of the natural compound rapamycin, which has been shown to extend lifespan and healthspan in animal models by inhibiting the TOR pathway. However, rapamycin has limitations that have prevented its widespread clinical use for aging-related conditions. Tornado aims to overcome these limitations by developing a portfolio of novel rapalogs licensed from Novartis, which were specifically designed to be more selective TORC1 inhibitors with improved drug-like properties relative to rapamycin. Early data suggests these compounds may have an improved safety profile and remain effective at treating diseases like cancer. In her conversation with host Chris Patil, Dr. Mannick provides an accessible overview of TOR signaling biology and shares insights from her extensive experience developing rapalogs. The discussion covers Tornado’s strategic approach to indications like oncology and viral infections, the process of characterizing their licensed compounds, and notable milestones on the horizon. Dr. Mannick provides an insider perspective on a compelling longevity biotech company striving to translate the promise of rapalogs into effective medicines for age-related diseases. Key topics:
Quotes: Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity. "Rapamycin is a very specific inhibitor of this critical protein mTOR that regulates lifespan and healthspan." “An ideal rapalog to treat aging-related conditions and extend lifespan is predicted to be a rapalog that specifically inhibits TORC1, but leaves TORC2 alone.” "The problem with rapamycin is that it has no remaining patent life. And we really have to do the studies to see if the benefit outweighs the risks." “[Cambrian] enabled me to go very fast in terms of execution - you get a team, which is very rare when you start a startup.” "Longevity medicine is white space ready to be explored. It's an untapped area that could transform the practice of medicine." “We are picking indications where there's not just preclinical validation, but a lot of clinical validation.” “We're going to use these lessons learned to see if with a better clinical development plan, we can now develop our next generation rapalogs to enhance antiviral immunity and decrease severity of viral respiratory tract infections.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Discovering Healthspan Interventions through Phenotype-Based Drug Screening (Mitchell Lee, Ora Biomedical) | 12 Jul 2023 | 00:32:16 | |
Mitchell Lee is the CEO and co-founder of Ora Biomedical, a Seattle-based biotech company using large-scale phenotypic drug screening in C. elegans to discover small molecule therapeutics that extend lifespan and healthspan. In this episode, Chris and Mitch discuss Ora's approach to drug discovery, which focuses on function and phenotype rather than specific targets or mechanisms. Using their proprietary "WormBot" platform, Ora screens thousands of compounds in parallel to identify molecules that impact lifespan, healthspan, and age-related disease phenotypes, allowing them to discover new longevity interventions in an unbiased, hypothesis-agnostic way. Key topics:
Quotes: Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity. “What really sets us apart is that we do phenotypic screening, in live animals." "If you are finding interventions that target those fundamental drivers of aging, you expect them to have multiple different impacts on age-associated diseases. But as we test more longevity interventions, we see that they also have all kinds of different impacts on non–age-associated disease models. “It’s really just taking the geroscience hypothesis seriously: If an intervention impacts aging, it’s likely to have impacts across many different disease stages, even ones that we wouldn’t necessarily think about as being related.” “We've seen examples of how this plays out with things like rapamycin. So it's really incredible the types of therapeutic benefits that can be had through these kinds of interventions.” "There's going to be a never before seen boom in enthusiasm, interest, engagement, and demand for longevity therapeutics. And what we're doing today is putting ourselves in the position where we're going to be able to meet that challenge in the next three to five years." Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Synergizing Synbio & Longevity: A Panel Discussion at SynBioBeta 2023 | 31 May 2023 | 00:42:31 | |
This special episode features a panel discussion moderated by Chris Patil at the 2023 SynBioBeta conference. The panel brings together leaders from the synthetic biology and longevity communities to explore opportunities for collaboration and cross-pollination between these fields. Panelists discuss the talent bottleneck in longevity research, challenges in translating new discoveries into therapies, the need for improved communication and education, and a shared vision for transforming health and society. The conversation covers existing resources for learning about longevity science, as well as calls to build new communities and networks to accelerate progress. Overall, the panel makes a compelling case that by coming together, synthetic biologists and longevity advocates can achieve breakthroughs that neither field could accomplish alone. Guests:
The Details
Quotes: Quotations have been lightly edited for clarity. Nathan Cheng
Stephanie Dainow
Dan Goodman:
Kat Kajderowicz:
Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.com BioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BioAge Labs LinkedIn Twitter handles of the panelists:
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| Nurturing the Next Generation of Leaders in Aging Biology (Dr. Courtney Hudson-Paz, Time Initiative) | 17 May 2023 | 00:22:50 | |
In this episode of Translating Aging, host Chris Patil is joined by Dr. Courtney Hudson-Paz, the Founder and Program Director of the Time Initiative, an organization whose mission is to build a network of undergraduate leaders in aging biology. Courtney takes us on a journey into the world of aging biology and the mission of the Time Initiative, highlighting how this groundbreaking organization is cultivating the next generation of leaders. She shares her insights into the importance of early engagement in scientific research, the challenges faced by longevity research, and the transformative potential of geroscience. In addition, Courtney explains how the core component of the Time Initiative's program, the Time Fellowship, offers a unique opportunity for talented individuals to engage in impactful research, community-building, and mentorship. She notes the pressing need to address age-related diseases and describes the Time Initiative's efforts to create a diverse and inclusive ecosystem in aging biology. She also celebrates the fact that the contributions of ambitious young minds in the field have the potential to accelerate scientific progress and significantly reshape the field of aging biology. In this podcast, you will learn about the mission and impact of the Time Initiative and discover the strategic importance of early engagement in scientific research and the transformative potential of geroscience. You will also gain insights into the Time Fellowship, as well as the importance of building a diverse and inclusive ecosystem in aging biology, and the role it plays in shaping the future of the field. Outline
Quotes: “Our motivation is really the same motivation of the field, right? We all see that the world is aging rapidly, we already have a billion people suffering from age related diseases.” "By focusing on undergrads, we're really investing in the future of the field... nurturing the next generation of leaders, innovators, and researchers." “I think what makes it unique is the focus on really early stage talent, and going after people that aren't already interested in aging, as well.” “The idea of the geroscience hypothesis is so compelling, that I feel like just the exposure is enough.” “I want to firmly establish it as a key driving force in the field of aging. I want to grow our networks of fellows, our mentors and our partners. I envision a future where our fellows are empowered by this experience through our program and they become influential figures in the field.” "The opportunities and possibility of the impact we can have in people's lives...is worth that extra funding and really deserves extra attention." "I want them conducting cutting-edge research and pioneering innovative treatments." "Stay curious. Be bold. Ask the questions, look for answers. Educate yourself, build your network, and believe in your potential." "Enabling future leaders in aging is about more than just providing them with knowledge and skills. It's about instilling them with a sense of purpose and a desire to make a difference." “I'm constantly fighting against underestimating my capacity for impact. But in learning to let go of that all of these really incredible opportunities have come my way. And it's really made room for me to just continually grow and learn.” “I envision a future where our fellows are empowered by this experience through our program, and they become influential figures in the field. I'm really excited about the future and the roles that the Time Initiative and our fellows will play in shaping it.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Epigenetic Reprogramming Therapies to Extend Healthspan (Dr. Jacob Kimmel, Head of Research, NewLimit) | 03 May 2023 | 00:40:25 | |
Jacob Kimball is the Head of Research and co-founder of NewLimit, a company aiming to develop epigenetic reprogramming therapies to treat age-related diseases and extend human healthspan. In this episode, Chris and Jacob have an in-depth discussion about NewLimit’s mission and approach. They explore how NewLimit is leveraging epigenetics and machine learning to search for new ways to reverse cell aging without changing cell identity. NewLimit is systematically testing combinations of biological factors that can reprogram cell age, using both biological experimentation and computational modeling at scale, and Jacob shares insights into the cutting-edge science and technology behind this work: how functional genomics allows NewLimit to run hundreds to thousands of experiments in a single dish, how machine learning is used in their research, and the challenges of translating epigenetic reprogramming from the lab to the clinic. Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of the promise of epigenetic reprogramming to revolutionize how we treat aging and age-related disease. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "Epigenetics is this layer of regulation that tells your cell, ‘Which genes can I use from my genome, at which times?’" "Our goal as a company is to increase human health span, and the way I like to frame that more colloquially is we want to increase the number of happy, healthy years each person gets to spend on Earth." “Even with just those sorts of data available, we're already able to build models that perform better than randomly searching through the experimental hypothesis space, and already performed better than our rough heuristics about which interventions might be most impactful.” "We know that you can actually just express these four genes and reprogram even an old cell all the way back to an embryonic-like state, which not only changes the cell's type, the role it's playing, but also its age." "Our approach is trying to discover ways we can reprogram cell age without reprogramming cell type." "The challenge that we run into is that there are so many combinations that very quickly it would become intractable to line up enough test tubes to test them all.” "Transient interventions could have durable phenotypic benefits for a patient. However, that space hasn't been explored very richly. We know very little about just how long some of these interventions last." “I think what I'm strongly hopeful for is that, if such medicines are to exist, that you can actually increase the number of happy, healthy years each one of us gets.” “I think in the next five to 10 years, we're going to see some of the first applications of this technology and the clinics, some of the first proof points, that these interventions actually can benefit patients in a material way.” “What I hope that means for someone like myself is that the number of years in which I can plausibly consider hiking the John Muir Trail increases in a measurable way. And likewise, for those of you with other hobbies, I hope that these sorts of experiences from which we derive a lot of fulfillment increase in their abundance as a result of these medicines being available.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn NewLimit progress update (YouTube video) | |||
| A New Approach for Cardiovascular Disease (Dr. Matthew O’Connor, Cyclarity Therapeutics) | 15 Mar 2023 | 00:37:52 | |
In today’s episode, Chris is joined by Dr. Matthew "Oki" O'Connor, CEO for Scientific Affairs at Cyclarity Therapeutics, a company focused on eliminating arterial plaque, a prevalent issue in old age. Dr. O'Connor shares his insights on the causes and effects of atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death worldwide, and how aging contributes to plaque build-up. The podcast emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift in addressing cardiovascular disease and highlights the importance of new approaches to repair vessels throughout the body and brain. Together, Chris and Dr. O’Connor begin by discussing atherosclerosis, its significant impact on cardiovascular disease, and the need to understand the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying aging and diseases related to aging. They also cover the limitations of current clinical treatments for atherosclerosis and the importance of a paradigm shift towards new approaches that can repair vessels throughout the body and brain. Dr. O’Connor then goes on to describe Cyclarity’s unique drug, a cyclodextrin, explaining how it could be a promising solution to the harmful effects of atherosclerosis. The podcast also explores the potential of combination therapy with traditional lipid-lowering drugs to address multiple aspects of atherosclerosis. Join Chris and Dr. O’Connor here today to gain a greater understanding of the remarkable work undertaken by Cyclarity Therapeutics, the impact of aging on cardiovascular health, the need for new approaches to address atherosclerosis, and the unique drug therapy combination that may offer a promising solution, revolutionizing its treatment in the process. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "Cardiovascular dysfunction, depending on which metastudy you believe, between 30 and 50% of all death on the planet is caused by the build-up of plaque in the arteries." "Atherosclerosis is the thickening of the arteries, which means in the vessel wall, you have a build up of material called plaque, which starts out as a fatty streak in the wall of a blood vessel." "There's no way to avoid the concept or the idea that a basic molecular mechanism, a biochemical mechanism of aging is going to impact many, if not all, cells and tissue systems." "By the time that you're doing vascular surgery on somebody, you've kind of lost the game. You clearly missed an opportunity to prevent a bad thing from happening in the first place." "We really need a paradigm shift to look at new approaches to addressing cardiovascular disease." "I think the average non-specialist just thinks of cholesterol as this, like, weird molecule that's in your body for some reason, but is totally bad." "Those lipid lowering drugs do actually save lives and keep atherosclerosis from getting worse faster. But we are trying to invent a better way to do it, a more elegant way to get rid of only the most toxic forms of cholesterol so that your arteries can repair themselves the way that they're engineered to." "I imagine that our treatment, at least at first, will be paired with the standard of care, which mostly is currently lipid lowering treatments, at least at first." "The things they're going after aren't just going to be treatments for a specific kind of cancer with a particular mutation or a very specific kind of skin disease. It's going to be something that affects many organ systems." “Targeting aging is an effective way to prevent and treat atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Targeting Pathologic Cells to Preserve Biological Youth (Dr. Marco Quarta, Rubedo Life Sciences) | 22 Feb 2023 | 00:40:59 | |
Dr. Marco Quarta, CEO and Co-founder of Rubedo Life Sciences, joins Chris on today’s episode to discuss his company’s strategy of targeting pathologic cells to develop therapeutics for chronic degenerative conditions. The conversation covers the evolving definition of senescence and the challenges of identifying and classifying pathologic cells, which vary across different tissues and indications. Marco also announces the upcoming Senotherapeutic Summit in November, which will bring together stakeholders from different fields to advance therapeutic research. Marco and Chris also review Rubedo Life Sciences' clinical development approach: targeting the aging process with the goal of helping healthy stem and immune cells to repair. They then go on to discuss the funding and work required for the selection and nomination of a lead candidate for a project, the importance of having access to primary clinical samples to test efficacy, and the subsequent steps of the grant awarding process. The conversation then turns to the value of having multiple programs running simultaneously. Tune in today to learn more about the ‘sneaky’ process of senescence that accelerates aging, the toxicity of these rare cells and the development of small molecules that can target them, the complexities of developing new therapies, and the value of having a robust pipeline of programs to advance therapeutic R&D. The Finer Details:
Quotes: "These are aberrant cells, dysfunctional cells, and maladaptive cells that are contributing to shift the microenvironment and leading to progression of chronic degenerative conditions, driving chronic inflammation, fibrosis, stem cell depletion, and cancer." "There are no universal pathologic cells across all tissues or indications. So it really depends on your question and finding targets associated with those that you can really go after in a drug discovery pipeline to generate therapeutics." "We are hoping to push forward the conversation about what senescent cells are, how we can classify them, and how we can move forward with targeting these cells." "We are testing back to back multiple indications including for example, chronic age related atopic dermatitis and others." "And it's a very important event that we'll have major stakeholders from high level government officials and scientists and innovators business leaders and really the idea of promoting a healthy longevity and how can we accelerate this." Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Bone Marrow Banking for Cell Therapy Material at Scale (Kevin Caldwell, Ossium Health) | 25 Jan 2023 | 00:41:20 | |
In today’s episode, Chris sits down with Kevin Caldwell, CEO, Co-Founder, and President of Ossium Health, a company that aims to improve human health and longevity through bioengineering - specifically using stem cell science to create materials for cell therapies. Together, they discuss Ossium’s approach: processing and banking of bone marrow from organ donors, which can then be cryopreserved and used for various clinical applications such as bone marrow transplants for blood cancer patients and emerging stem cell therapies. Kevin also shares details of his background as a lawyer in the stem cell industry and the potential of stem cell therapies in increasing the availability of bone marrow for treatment options. He then goes on to describe his company's clinical programs and their goal of increasing the percentage of patients who ultimately get bone marrow transplants. In addition, he reviews the company's plans for using stem cell therapies in preventive medicine, their focus on improving long-term health and lowering costs, and the company's clinical trial for treating GVHD. Finally, he says a few words about Ossium’s place in the longevity biotech sector. Listen in today to not only learn about the potential of stem cell therapies and the importance of increasing the availability of bone marrow for treatment options for blood cancer patients, but to also gain valuable insights into the future of healthcare itself. The Finer Details of this Episode:
Quotes: "Every year in the United States, there are about 20,000 people diagnosed with leukemia who go looking for a bone marrow transplant… 40% of those people… ultimately do not receive a transplant. Many of those people die while looking for a donor." "Other people become so weak during the process of searching for a donor that they're taken off the list." "There are also many emerging applications of the stem cells that are native to the bone marrow, treatments for diseases of inflammation, treatments that enable people to receive organ transplants without immunosuppression." "Ossium has developed a process for processing and banking bone marrow from organ donors, cryopreserving those cells, and then doing further selection and engineering on the cells to prepare them for different clinical applications." “There's a number of steps that we have to take to go from that solid bone to bone marrow for cryopreservation.” "Our goal is to dramatically increase the percentage of patients who ultimately get bone marrow transplants." "Bone marrow transplants are not FDA regulated. They're treated like organ transplants by law." "One of the things about prevention that is most powerful is that if you achieve it, you can both improve long-term health relative to retrospective treatment, and ultimately lower cost. For us, prevention is a North Star.” “If we think about our goal of trying to broadly improve human health, one system that is involved in our response to essentially all disease is the immune system.” "At Ossium, what we're really building is the ability to systematically reconstitute, restart, reset, and renew the human immune system." "For the rest of the recipient's life, they will produce blood and immune cells from the donor's bone marrow." "One of the things that's exciting about that is that the donor cells will be able to recognize and respond to new disease threats." “The set of innovations that is going to allow us to extend our healthspan meaningfully from what we have now toward something that gives us another chapter of healthy life is going to look very different from the set that allowed us to go from the lifespans we had a century ago to today.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Hacking the Complex System of Aging (Peter Fedichev, GERO) | 14 Dec 2022 | 00:41:26 | |
This week, we welcomes Peter Fedichev, an entrepreneur and scientist with over 20 years of experience in academic research and biotech business who has co-founded three biotech companies. He’s currently the co-founder & CEO of GERO, a longevity startup on a mission to hack aging. In this episode, Chris and Peter discuss GERO’s goal to accelerate our understanding of aging and create a therapy that will significantly extend a healthy human lifespan. First, they talk about the relationship between physics and biotech, and from there, the conversation moves to the importance of resilience in human and animal aging. Finally, Peter walks us through GERO’s drug discovery approach, how we can ‘hack’ complex dynamic systems and aging using AI, and shares his optimism about the future of aging research. The Finer Details of This Episode:
Quotes: “What we can do and what I think is very good to learn how to do in biology is to understand those universal properties that do not depend on fine details of life histories.” “Obviously aging, that is a very slow process—so slow that almost everything averages out and people that are living under different conditions with totally different life histories are still living more or less the same long life.” “It's easier to rejuvenate an animal which doesn't have any resilience because resilience means the ability to get back to the norm after the intervention. If you are resilient, either a bad effect like smoking or a good effect as your future aging drug will be small, and the more resilient you are, the smaller is the effect.” “If you can only increase your lifespan once you're already unstable, the overall effect of such interventions from lifespan will be, unfortunately, incremental and limited.” “It looks like our progress in chronic diseases is very slow. It's very slow because even though genome is cheaper, we have all genetic therapies, all kinds of new therapeutic modalities, everything, but for reasons that we need to understand, it's very hard to do drugs against chronic diseases in humans.” “I think by bringing these ideas from neuroscience like your company is doing, like our company, like all our communities are doing, I think we will find ways to educate them. And who knows, maybe in five years, one of the major pharmas will start doing drugs against aging, using the techniques and the experience that we will help them to create; I think we're very close to this tipping point in the industry.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Peter Fedichev on LinkedIn “Unsupervised learning of aging principles from longitudinal data” Avchaciov, K., Antoch, M.P., Andrianova, E.L. et al. Unsupervised learning of aging principles from longitudinal data. Nat Commun 13, 6529 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34051-9 | |||
| Understanding Aging to Develop Interventions (Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, University of Copenhagen) | 16 Nov 2022 | 00:32:57 | |
This week, Chris welcomes Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, who’s on a mission to understand, modulate and treat aging and age-related diseases. His research group, The Scheibye-Knudsen Lab, is trying to understand the cellular and organismal consequences of DNA damage & repair with the aim of developing interventions for aging. Morten is also one of the chairs and chief organizers of the highly successful aging research and Drug Discovery conference, ARDD. In this episode, Chris and Morten talk about interventions in the aging process and why it’s important to better understand aging in order to hopefully treat age-related diseases someday. First off, they discuss the contribution of DNA repair pathways to aging, and then Morten explains the diverging consequences of DNA damage, establishing the pivotal role that DNA damage plays in the aging process. From there they delve into how ketones work in the brain, as well as the connection between the ketogenic diet and aging. Finally, Morten shares his experience with clinical trials, the Aging Research & Drug Discovery conference, and some exciting things to look forward to in the aging field. The Finer Details of This Episode:
Quotes: “I think if we're interested in being able to treat diseases and treat chronic diseases, then we really need to understand the root cause of these diseases. And most chronic, non-communicable diseases are age-associated, and aging is the largest risk factor for these diseases. So something happens during aging that makes us susceptible to disease.” “Your brain cannot metabolize fats very well, so it needs an additional food source when sugar is getting very low, and ketones are then a possible food source.” “The ketogenic diet or ketosis had been used even in Roman times. When someone had an epileptic seizure, people thought they were possessed by demons and then they put them in a cell and allowed the demons to burn themselves out. But in reality, they just left them in the cell until they went into ketosis. That's when the ketones probably broke the seizures.” “I think that we still don't exactly know how good they are in terms of aging. But I think this is a really interesting research topic because it has been very difficult to separate the, for example, reduction in blood glucose effect from the increase in ketone effect. So these exogenous ketones will really be key to dissecting that relationship.” “I think this is probably the most exciting part, I would say, of the aging field right now is the greatly expanding field of clinical trials actually targeting aging.” “I can drive a small clinical trial, but to actually get products in the hands of people and drive change for regular people, we need companies, we need industry. ” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website bioagelabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn ARDD 2022 Website: https://agingpharma.org/ ARDD YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClOnplI2mzpJlwdX3vlOMJA | |||
| Optimizing Healthspan through Longevity Medicine (Dr. Andrea Maier – The Center for Healthy Longevity) | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:37:07 | |
Optimizing Healthspan through Longevity Medicine (Dr. Andrea Maier – The Center for Healthy Longevity) Dr. Andrea Maier is an internal medicine specialist, geriatrician, and researcher whose work focuses on age-related disease, cellular senescence, and the translation of longevity science into clinical practice. Among her academic appointments are professorships at the Free University, Amsterdam and the Netherlands, the University of Melbourne in Australia, and the National University of Singapore, where she also serves as the co-director of the Center for Healthy Longevity. On today’s episode, Dr. Maier joins host Chris Patil to discuss longevity medicine, her goals for building credibility in this emerging specialty, and how lifestyle changes are key to intervening in the aging process. First, she explains that longevity medicine means optimizing the state of health of an individual before a disease occurs by antagonizing the aging processes to be healthier for longer. This focus on delaying age-related disease differentiates longevity medicine from other specialties in its proactive attempt to prolong the healthspan rather than reacting after a disease has already occurred. Dr. Maier goes on to state her goals for this specialty, including educating laypeople and medical professionals, building a credible foundation and guidelines, and accelerating research in the field. She also suggests some promising areas of research, from diagnostic clocks to the credibility of supplements, as well as discussing lifestyle changes, an intervention already known to be effective against age-related disease. Dr. Maier then discusses her involvement with the first publicly funded outpatient clinic in longevity medicine, which she’ll be opening in Singapore in 2023, and the services it will provide. Finally, Dr. Maier closes the episode with her thoughts on democratizing longevity medicine and the future of the specialty, including her hope that, within ten years, we will see a shift toward preventing and lowering age-related diseases. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “What we would like to achieve is to optimize that function at that moment in time for that individual. And optimizing function means optimizing the cognitive function but also the physical function to prevent that age-related disease.” “Nobody really knows or has really described what the effect is of these supplements over the life course and for whom. I think consumers need to know what the return on investment is of taking these kinds of supplements. On the other side, physicians should know what the possible return of investment is if these kinds of supplements are prescribed to healthy individuals if any.” “We have already interventions in place, we have diagnostics in place. And that’s the reason why I, as an internal medicine specialist, I’m opening the first longevity clinic in a publicly funded hospital because I think it’s time, and I think it’s unethical to not apply this knowledge to the population and just wait until disease occurs.” “Most importantly is that we have to give individuals the choice what they would like to achieve because if we want, as healthcare professionals, too much, and people will not stick to our recipes, nothing will happen. So it has to be a shared decision-making on what to do and what to leave out.” “We should deliver care to everybody who needs our help. And I would say helping means, in my view, to prevent age-related diseases, and thereby reduce the cost to the entire society.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Investing in Longbio True Believers (Sebastian Brunemeier, Healthspan Capital & ImmuneAge Pharma) | 28 Sep 2022 | 00:44:03 | |
In today’s episode, Chris welcomes Sebastian Brunemeier, a biotech VC and company builder focused on longevity and regenerative medicine. Sebastien is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Healthspan Capital, a longevity VC firm that invests in biotechnology startups developing therapies to slow or reverse aging, and the CEO and Co-Founder of ImmuneAGE Pharma, a new company based on a drug discovery platform for immune rejuvenation. At Healthspan Capital, Sebastian is looking to invest in fellow “true believers” in longevity and regenerative medicine—companies that understand the importance of aging as a focus for biotech and won’t pivot away from longevity as a focus. Sebastian’s newest venture, ImmuneAge Pharma, is focused on rejuvenating the immune system. With over 100 years of combined drug discovery expertise, the company aims to systematically identify small molecules that rejuvenate hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). As Sebastian points out, the goal of longevity and regenerative medicine is not to extend lifespan at any cost, but rather to increase quality-adjusted life years. The Finer Details of This Episode:
Quotes: “We noticed that there was a gap in the market for more traditional structured VC, the longevity biotech space, and actually I and my co-founders launched Healthspan because we were looking to invest our own money into a broadly diversified portfolio and a long bio space, and there was no way to do it. So we had to create it ourselves.” “I would argue that if you have a drug that enhances robustness and resilience and extends lifespan, and it works in multiple different animal models and disease, contrived or not, that is a much stronger preclinical signal for efficacy down the road.” “We've already found a couple of interesting molecules that we're doing med chem on to improve their properties that identify the molecular target. And so, we're hopeful that we'll find a whole pipeline of assets that rejuvenate the immune system.” “If we can dramatically improve outcomes for patients who receive chemo, that would be an absolute home run. It's a huge unmet market need. And this is something that I would want for myself and my friends and family to be available.” “We want to gently, slowly replace the existing HSCs in the niche.” “I'm primarily not in this for the money at this point. I am in this to extend healthy lifespan in myself and my loved ones and the world, and showing Big Pharma that there is a new way, another world is possible. We can actually treat disease at the root cause: the fundamental biology of aging.” “We want to compress the time in which we're spending years in poor health at the end of life, which is very expensive for the whole world and the whole system. ” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Healthspan Capital Website: https://www.healthspancapital.vc/ Sebastian A. Brunemeier on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastianaguiar/ Longevity Marketcap Newsletter: https://sub.longevitymarketcap.com/ The DeSci movement: https://ethereum.org/en/desci/ | |||
| Investing in Longevity (Nils Regge, Apollo Health Ventures) | 14 Sep 2022 | 00:27:08 | |
Joining Chris on the podcast today is Nils Regge, Co-founder and Managing Director of Apollo Health Ventures. As a social entrepreneur, company creator, and biotech expert, Nils built Apollo Health Ventures in 2016 to help health tech companies develop methods to prevent and reverse the aging process and extend the healthy human life span. At Apollo, Nils makes use of his dealmaking skills, business knowledge, and prior experience growing startups to help boost the success of biotech and health companies. As the general public becomes increasingly interested in longevity and medical advancements continue to take place at rapid rates, Apollo is a leader in funding and fueling efforts to ensure healthier and longer human lifespans. At the moment, things are looking up as there is a lot of excitement in the industry - however, Regge finds it important to temper that enthusiasm with the right kind of skepticism. In a field in which any new advancement is seemingly revolutionary, it’s crucial to stay grounded. The Finer Details of This Episode:
Quotes: “If you have something that makes you live 10 years, 20 years, longer, healthier, I think it's the biggest market ever.” “We do company creation, but we also invest in outside companies.” “Because we are in this for the long run, we want to make investors money, we want to show the investors that this is a good place to invest or a good space to invest. And then ultimately, we want to be able to raise more money from other bigger institutional investors.” “You want to create an incentive structure and organizational structure that encourages the right kind of skepticism…you almost want to avoid a certain kind of optimism early on.” “But because of the excitement in the field, and kind of what I think of as the ‘True Believer' phenomenon, I think we are vulnerable to a little bit of hype. And I think that it's a very good idea to bring that down to earth and say, ‘Okay, that's a good idea. Let us figure out the best way to see if it's gonna fail, and do that first.’” “So first of all, it's about getting a drug to the market, that's the most important thing, and making sure it's safe and that it's working.” “There's great science here in Europe, right? So I mean, the universities are great, the people are smart. They're just not as entrepreneurial as they are in the US, per se.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Apollo Health Ventures Homepage: https://www.apollo.vc Nils Regge on LinkedIn: nils-regge-62ab7a28 | |||
| Safe & Synergistic Combination Drugs to Promote Healthy Aging (Ann Beliën, Rejuvenate BioMed) | 24 Aug 2022 | 00:36:21 | |
In this episode of the BioAge podcast, Ann Beliën joins Chris Patil today to share the story behind Rejuvenate Biomed, and her journey into the longevity sector. She started her career at Johnson & Johnson after receiving her postdoctoral degree, and during her tenure, she worked in scientific, operational, and strategic roles. Twenty years later, she became the founder and CEO of Rejuvenate Biomed, a Belgian company evaluating combinations of safe and synergistic drugs that target physical decline and promote healthy aging. One of Rejuvenate’s main focus areas is sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass and strength during aging. When muscle decay starts to prevent people from leaving the house and living a quality life, mental health and quality of life decline rapidly. The company’s first combination therapy to reach clinical trials, currently in a Phase 1b study, will be initially tested as a treatment for this complex disease. More clinical trials are in the works, with two new combinations entering preclinical trials next year. The Finer Details of This Episode:
Quotes: ““If we want to do something in the longevity space, we need to provide the product in a chronic fashion, and safety is of course very important. So, why not start from something that already has a proven safety record?” “The company is first identifying individual drugs that have interesting properties with respect to aging, and then trying to devise novel combinations of them that can be used to treat age related diseases.” “Aging is not currently an endpoint that can be used as a trial outcome. So to bring drugs to trial, we have to identify appropriate clinical indications.” “People with sarcopenia are not able anymore to go to the store, to leave their house. And the social impact is huge… they become isolated.” “We want to have functional, happy people that are living their lives to their fullest potential for convenience.” “We want to learn as much as possible also from the technical perspective, which can be an added benefit not only to the company, but also to the community on the comparisons of these different methods of measuring muscle mass.” “I think we've also seen that in the United States, where the biggest science story of all of our lifetimes, the COVID pandemic, revealed the importance of thinking hard about diseases that disproportionately affect older people, and the broader ramifications of that for the rest of the population.” “Your advisors should be representing different aspects, different ways of thinking and different challenges. So our advisory boards are always very interesting, because you get all these different perspectives.” “In the aging field, people always dive deep and figure out the positive side and do the learning and just pull it through. And that's what I really like.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Rejuvenate Biomed Homepage: rejuvenatebiomed.com | |||
| Building Longevity Companies in Europe (Marc P. Bernegger) | 10 Aug 2022 | 00:22:10 | |
Today’s guest on the podcast is Marc Bernegger, a serial tech entrepreneur who has been following developments in the field of longevity since 2009. Recently he became a founding partner of the Swiss company, Maximon, whose core missions is building companies and providing support to longevity entrepreneurs. Marc has worked for over a decade between two continents at this point, and his interest in longevity has never been more intense. From aging skin to gut microbiomes, there’s a lot of work and research left to do, and if you’re of Bernegger’s school of thought, longevity is a matter of the present, rather than some notion about the distant future. As you will hear today, Marc is like so many others in his field - putting in the work now to create a better tomorrow. The Finer Details of This Episode:
Quotes: “Our ambition is to only focus on businesses where there's a real scientific background, so not selling snake oil, which is maybe on the short term very profitable but definitely not sustainable.” “We support them from day one. We help them with all our network experiences and learnings as serial entrepreneurs ourselves. We support them with money. And we really try to be a sparring partner without maybe becoming too annoying.” “I think for me as an entrepreneur, that's always very fulfilling that you can give, be an alternative, and create more entrepreneurs starting companies.” “One of the reasons we decided to launch Maximon as a company builder is that we wanted to show that it’s possible to monetize the megatrend of longevity as we speak.” “You can really boost and accelerate the growth by combining some of the different business models.” “By having more elderly, healthy, longer living people, a lot of business models will change. So elderly living is a big topic. Something we're looking into is the whole gut microbiome, but also microbiome in other areas where you have a huge impact on longevity.” “The longevity biotech sector, even in the regulated drugs space, is pretty cooperative. We don't think of ourselves as competitors, because everyone wants everyone else to succeed.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Defining and Measuring the Aging Process (Dr. Vadim Gladyshev) | 27 Jul 2022 | 00:31:55 | |
Joining Chris today is Dr. Vadim Gladyshev, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of Redox Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The Gladyshev lab studies redox biology and trace elements as they relate to cancer, reproduction, and aging. Today, Dr. Gladyshev shares with us how his research group investigates the aging process and how aging is quantified in academic research. Dr. Gladyshev begins by discussing how he got involved in the longevity sector. He goes on to explain that aging has not been clearly defined, and how many researchers define aging differently. He contends that aging should be studied as opposed to age-related diseases because age-related diseases are influenced by other factors aside from aging. The interview concludes with the importance of conferences that address the science of longevity and how these events connect bright minds to tackle unsolved problems in the field. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “In general we try to address fundamental questions in the biology of aging — really trying to understand, ‘What is aging? How can we fundamentally adjust lifespan or target aging?’ … And we try to identify new areas of potential growth for the field.” “We work on cross-species analysis to understand how the lifespan is shaped over evolutionary timescales and how we can utilize what we learn from evolution in targeting aging and lifespan.” “Many changes can be measured as an organism moves from young to old. So this might be useful for measuring the progress of normal aging. But when you're intervening in aging, you don't want to reverse all of those changes, because some of those changes are evidence of the body's protective responses in action.” “Just to play devil's advocate for a second: why would you want to target aging if you still got sick and died at the same rate?” “Mortality is an integrative feature of not just the aging process, but interaction with the environment.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| AI and Robotics in Longevity Biotech (Alex Zhavoronkov) | 06 Jul 2022 | 00:24:47 | |
Joining Chris today is Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO and Co-founder of Insilico Medicine, an artificial intelligence–driven pharma-technology company with a mission to accelerate drug discovery and development. Alex is a lifelong advocate for longevity biotech and the author of The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy. Today, Alex shares the accomplishments that Insilico Medicine has achieved in drug discovery and how AI and robotics come into play. The episode begins with Alex narrating his experience in the field of longevity and how his interest developed at a young age. He discusses the reason behind building Insilico Medicine, how AI and robotics aid drug discovery in the longevity industry, and how biology and chemistry play a significant role at Insilico Medicine. The episode ends with Alex describing the future he sees for Insilico Medicine and how they can improve human life using AI to advance drug discovery and data generation. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “It always fascinated me how we grow, mature, reach our peak, and then decline and die. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you do, you lose everything… So, the rest of my life is dedicated to aging research.” “We started generating novel molecular structures with the desired properties, and managed to achieve spectacular results.” “In human clinical trials, we realized that we can use some incremental data that could be generated using a robotic system. So now we're building one of the most advanced labs in the world focused on data generation, and also personalized medicine that can take in specific biological samples.” “BioAge is one of the leaders in the space, showcasing that it can identify targets using longitudinal data that is available from biobanks.” “We trained neural networks to predict age first, and then retrain them on diseases or on other conditions, that is, any data type that is changing in time.” “By training on age, you are training on the most important feature that connects all of us.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| The Impact of Muscle Aging on Longevity (Dr. Bill Evans) | 22 Jun 2022 | 00:43:09 | |
Back in the host's chair this week, Bob Hughes welcomes Dr. Bill Evans, one of the world's foremost experts on muscle aging, to the podcast. Bill is adjunct professor of Human Nutrition at University of California Berkeley and an adjunct professor of medicine in the Geriatrics Program at Duke. Previously, he was vice president and head of Muscle Metabolism Discovery Performance Unit at GlaxoSmithKline and he was also president of the Muscle and Health Division at KineMed. He was also president of the Muscle and Health Division at KineMed. Earlier this year, he was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 International Conference on Frailty, and Sarcopenia Research. Today, Bill brings his vast amount of experience and expertise to the podcast to discuss how muscle aging affects longevity in older people and the relationship between muscle aging and age-related diseases. He begins by sharing his experience in the longevity industry, particularly with muscle aging, and goes on to discuss the term ‘sarcopenia’, including what it means and how it relates to muscle degeneration. He then explains the differences between sarcopenia and cachexia, and referring to several studies, shares the meaning of frailty, the relation of walking speed with age, and the importance of the brain–muscle connection. At the conclusion of the episode, Bill discusses the future of muscle aging and how the longevity industry hopes to find solutions that will improve the lives of people on a global scale. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “What are some of the causes of late life disability? How does muscle change as we grow older? Why do we lose muscle?” “A large percentage of women in particular over the age of 60 reported that they couldn't even lift 10 pounds. And the muscle weakness progressed as they grew older.” “The primary deficit and functional deficit as we grow older is loss of strength. And that is directly related to how much muscle we have.” “Cachexia is associated with a rapid increase in the breakdown of muscle, while sarcopenia is associated with a more gradual decrease in the rate of synthesis of muscle.” “People generally over the age of 75, have circulating markers of inflammation.” “People with type two diabetes and insulin resistance lose muscle at almost double the rate of people with normal glucose tolerance.” “If we improve strength in an older person, their spontaneous activity goes up. And their habitual walking speed goes up as well.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Eliminating Senescent Cells by Activating the Immune System (Robin Mansukhani, Deciduous Therapeutics) | 08 Jun 2022 | 00:43:33 | |
This week’s episode of Translating Aging features Robin Mansukhani, CEO and Co-founder of Deciduous Therapeutics, a company that aims to positively impact human healthspan by developing medicines which activate the endogenous immune mechanism responsible for the elimination of senescent cells. Today, Robin shares his insights on how senescent cells develop and how Deciduous Therapeutics eliminates them. Robin begins by explaining what causes the growth of senescent cells. He explains that not all senescent cells are dangerous and discusses the various kinds of these cells. Although senescent cells are prominent in age-related diseases, Robin explains that they are also found in younger people with autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes. He goes on to talk about Deciduous Therapeutics’ approach in combating senescent cells by activating the NKT cells. He also shares his thinking about the best directions for human trials. The episode concludes with Robin describing the future of Deciduous Therapeutics, and his focus on impacting people globally in a meaningful way. In this episode, you’ll learn how senescence arises, traditional senolytic approaches, and the importance of NKT cells in eliminating these pathogenic celss. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “Senescent cells are cells that have been irreversibly damaged, and so they exit the cell cycle.” “It's not about the age of the person. It's more about the biological age of the organ and tissue. So we see senescence, also, in young people.” “If you can take a senescent cell that's pathogenic and make it good again, and make it functional again safely and successfully, that would be very useful.” “The approach here and our mindset going into creating this company was: there's a way that nature intended for this to happen, and it is our job to figure that out.” “Getting the first indication to work means that you'll have a runway to lots of success. But if your first one does not work, in a lot of cases, it might mean the end of the company or the end of the runway because you simply don't get enough funding for multiple clinical trials at once. So it is critical.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Deciduous Therapeutics Website DeciduousTx.com | |||
| Bringing Talent into the Longevity Industry’s Workforce (Mark Hamalainen) | 18 May 2022 | 00:34:05 | |
In today’s episode of Translating Aging, Chris welcomes Mark Hamalainen, the founder and director of LessDeath, to discuss how to encourage the influx of talents into the longevity field. LessDeath is an organization on a mission to support the growth and effectiveness of the longevity industry’s workforce. Today, Mark shares with us his experience in the longevity space, why he founded LessDeath, and what to expect at the upcoming LessDeath Longevity Summer Camp. Noting that his experience in the longevity space was propelled by his fascination as a teenager, Mark goes on to share details about leaving his Ph.D. program to get hands-on experience in the longevity world and discover the many talents represented in the industry. He speaks about founding LessDeath, what the organization hopes to achieve, the inaugural LessDeath Longevity Summer Camp and the gap this event is hoping to bridge in the industry. Included in this episode are interviews with Stephanie Dainow and Kia Winslow, camp counselors for the Longevity Summer Camp, in which they share the kinds of talent they expect to attract to the event and the kinds of activities that will take place. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “I started a Ph.D. at Cambridge working on some gene therapy development. But I quickly got a bit disillusioned with the pace and the amount of extra work involved in grant writing, bureaucracy, and academia.” “A lot of people would prefer to work on important problems like longevity, climate change, building a multiplanetary species. But it can be difficult to know where to start, and how to build a sustainable career out of it.” “I've never liked the idea of getting older and losing my faculties and physical capabilities.” “If you want to invest your time supporting initiatives that drive measurable improvement to the human condition, but you're really not sure where to start, this is the event for you.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn LessDeath Website LessDeath.Org Apply for LessDeath Longevity Summer Camp Mark’s LinkedIn | |||
| VitaDAO - Democratizing Longevity Research through the Blockchain (Tyler Golato and Laurence Ion) | 04 May 2022 | 00:49:57 | |
On today’s episode of Translating Aging, Chris welcomes Tyler Golato and Laurence Ion to talk about VitaDAO, a collective accelerating research in human longevity and decentralized drug development. The pair start the conversation off by discussing their company’s roots - a previous business venture that sought to change the incentive structures around drug development. VitaDAO was created as a means to support biological longevity research through decentralized means. They go on to discuss VitaDAO’s future, how they can increase liquidity, and their goals to advance drug development. Golato and Ion argue that the present is a perfect time to create VitaDAO, given the current intersection between biotech, block chain, and longevity research. They conclude by recalling the early-life dreams that inspired them to enter this field. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “VitaDAO was born out of an early concept that we had been working on at a company called Molecule, which is a company that I co-founded about three years ago with a vision of doing decentralized drug development.” “It's not completely open, completely decentralized to the point where it's paralyzing for the organization, but we try to look at the things that are most valuable to decentralize in order to make the organization as maximally efficient as possible.” “We really try to make it as easy as possible for token holders to make informed decisions about whether or not something is ultimately worth funding. We like to do so once we're at the point where we ensure that we can actually progress with a deal.” “We are distinctly different from a venture fund in terms of our endpoint is not really ROI impact, it's really impact in the space. And that comes in many different forms, in terms of taking a diversified approach to funding longevity research.” “Even if we spin out a NewCo, these contributors can vote on what projects are funded, how they are spun out, and then they can co-invest and help these therapeutics eventually come to market.” “In the long term, we really hope to be able to do a lot of things within the decentralized science ecosystem as the space broadens and has liquidity to do so through partnerships with organizations like Molecule and LabDAO.” “Certain things like clinical trials don't yet have a business model. So we can create one by having either philanthropic groups, patient groups or even a government/life insurance company that has an economic incentive to improve health outcomes.” “Crypto has long been dismissed by the incumbents.” “People who are really looking at how technology and innovation can drive humanity forward and drive the way that we govern.” “What problem is more interesting than human aging? I mean, for me, it's so philosophical; it's so poetic.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Building Community in the Longevity Biotech Space (Nathan Cheng) | 06 Apr 2022 | 00:34:38 | |
On today’s episode of Translating Aging, Chris welcomes Nathan Cheng, the program director at On Deck Longevity Biotech (ODLB), to discuss how ODLB is cultivating new founders and connecting people in the longevity biotech space. Nathan writes about the longevity biotech industry in his Longevity Marketcap Newsletter, is the founder of Longevity List which aims to connect job seekers, companies and investors in the longevity industry, and is on a self-professed mission to end biological aging, Today, he tells us about the purpose of ODLB, its achievements thus far, and the bridge it hopes to build in the longevity biotech industry. Nathan begins the conversation by discussing what On Deck is and why the company was formed. He briefly narrates his journey in tech, what increased his interest in the longevity space, and the mission of the ODLB, as well as how the fellowship works towards creating founders. He goes on to discuss the obstacles many face when they get accepted in the fellowship and how ODLB works to reduce those obstacles by promoting face-to-face interactions. Also contained in this episode are brief interviews with ODLB fellows Brian Hodge and Gabe Warshauer-Baker. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “At a high level, On Deck is where people come to start and accelerate their companies. It's also a place where people start and accelerate their careers in the startup economy.” “What makes On Deck unique is that it's a huge network of interconnected program communities. So we have communities centered around specific career goals.” “ODLB’s mission is to increase the number of people working to build longevity biotech startups.” “For some people coming from the scientific domain, this whole idea of networking is foreign to them or nebulous.” “We're gonna generate new founders, but among the people who decide for whatever reason not to become founders, we also want them to be encouraged and empowered to be involved in longevity biotech in some other capacity.” “Putting ourselves on the map for people who are interested in building longevity biotech, I think that is our greatest achievement so far. ” “So I think just more efforts in popularizing this geroscience paradigm, you know, actually targeting aging, I think there's a lot to be done there as well.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn On Deck Longevity Biotech Website Nathan Cheng Twitter | |||
| Aging Goes to Washington! — The Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (Sonia Arrison and Dylan Livingston) | 23 Mar 2022 | 00:37:15 | |
In today's episode, Chris is joined by two leaders of the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives, A4LI, the first and only 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization founded with the goal of creating social and political action around the issues of combating age-related chronic conditions and increasing our number of healthy, disease-free years. Sonia Arrison is a best-selling author, analyst, entrepreneur, and investor who is founder of 100 Plus Capital, Chair of the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives, co-founder of Unsugarcoat Media (acquired by Medium), and an associate founder of Singularity University. Dylan Livingston, the founder and president of A4LI, has a background in political organizing at the state and national levels. The conversation begins with our guests reviewing their journey to the world of longevity science and ultimately A4LI. They then explore many aspects of their organization including the needs it will address, the obstacles it will encounter and how it will overcome them, and its plan for succeeding in its mission. They go on to share what they have already accomplished, their ties on both sides of the aisle in Congress, Silicon Valley's current perspective on their work, and how listeners can help them achieve their mission. Drawing the episode to a close, Sonia and Dylan share their vision for what success would look like for A4LI five years down the road. In this episode, you will learn about the need for an organization such as A4LI to create social and political action around age-related conditions, and how our guests plan to fill this need both now and into the future. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “Sonia has been intimately involved since the organization's inception. And I'm really happy that she is able to be the chair of the board because her leadership and guidance has been absolutely crucial.” “Essentially A4LI will be establishing a line of communication between the longevity industry and elected officials.” “There's a lot of longevity companies out there who are doing some really cool things that are going to extend our health spans. And, and so we need to make sure that the atmosphere is right for that.” “We look to kind of educate, you know, not only politicians, but also the voting public on what's possible.” “What we're saying here is, what I hear you saying is, it should be okay for a company to say we're a longevity company.” “You'd think that the government would want to fund that more, and they should, because of the e massive impact that a drug that treats aging could have.” “Even if funding is coming in from the private sector, biotech companies still stand to gain from formalized efforts, because they're going to get a smoother regulatory environment and potentially greater legitimacy for the products and ideas that they're developing. “ “By simply doing what other advocacy efforts do - that is public persuasion campaigns, their advertising - I think we can really open some ears up and get people focused on this space a little more.” “One of the things that was really important to me about getting involved in this is that it remained bipartisan, and so far, we've managed to do a really good job of having people on both sides of the aisle.” “I think people in Silicon Valley are interested and excited, and are just sort of waiting to see what's going to happen, and, you know, just how interested Congress might be.” “Everything is going to change with the introduction of an effective longevity drug. So, you know, we need to help the government and institutions prepare for that.” “Once somebody starts stealing your idea, you know that it's gold.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Measuring Biological Age (Dr. Morgan Levine) | 09 Mar 2022 | 00:46:41 | |
Today’s guest is Dr. Morgan Levine, an assistant professor of Pathology and Epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine. She is also a Founding Principal Investigator at Altos, a new biotechnology company focused on cellular rejuvenation programming to restore cell health and resilience. Dr. Levine shares her expertise on biological aging, aging clocks, cellular reprogramming, and a peek into the research she’s currently undertaking at Altos here today. She starts the conversation by explaining the differences between biological aging and chronological aging. She then delves into topics surrounding biological clocks such as DNA methylation, and discusses her work at Altos and how this will differ from an academic environment. Dr. Levine finishes up by highlighting what Altos hopes to bring to science and biotech in years to come. In today’s episode, you’ll learn the difference between biological and chronological aging, the nature of biological clocks, and some of the exciting work taking place in biotechnology these days. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “Age measured in chronological time was the biggest risk factor for most diseases.” “I like to think of the epigenome as almost the operating system of a cell.” “The things that we assume should affect aging, in potentially an animal model, show effects when using the epigenetic clock.” “We've actually taken the human epigenetic clock and broken them out into.. what we would call different modules.” “If we're measuring biological age, it should first correlate with chronological age to some degree, but not perfectly.” “We’ve become much more interested in understanding the clocks rather than developing new clocks… What’s driving the changes that are captured by the clocks, and how do those link to the outcomes they’re associated with?” “My lab is really a combination of both experimental wet lab people and computational dry lab people.” “I think saying we just work on aging, or just work on longevity, is really constraining us to some degree.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Dr. Morgan’s LinkedIn Altos Labs Website | |||
| Stem Cell Biology and Longevity Research with Dr. Thomas Rando | 23 Feb 2022 | 00:47:36 | |
Today’s guest is Dr. Thomas Rando, Professor, Neurology; Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and a pioneer in stem cell biology and the biology of aging. Dr. Rando is the Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors at Fountain Therapeutics. In today’s episode, he shares information surrounding cell cycle, parabiosis, and replacement therapy. Dr. Rando begins by explaining why the cell cycle is important and the place of aging cells in the world of cell cycle. He explains the quiescent states of cells and how heterochronic parabiosis has been tested on animals to determine if cells in a younger animal can be used to activate those in an older animal. He also discusses how three factors impact aging: genetics, diet, and exercise. In this episode, you’ll learn the meaning and importance of cell cycle and parabiosis and how they both relate to aging. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “Why is it that we heal our injuries and wounds less well as we age?” “The older we get, the more difficult it is to activate these cells out of that state. And you can imagine that if a cell is dormant, and you can't wake it up, it's not going to do very well in terms of repairing tissues.” “There's no free lunch here. What benefits the old animal hurts the young animal.” “The only reason why a species survives and thrives and continues is because of reproduction.” “No one wants to calorically restrict for their whole life. I mean, no one wants to go through their life eating 30%.” “Anything that we can do to find a healthy diet that is palatable and sustainable, and prevents obesity will be a good thing.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn | |||
| Cellular senescence in aging and disease (Dr. Marco Demaria) | 09 Feb 2022 | 00:35:33 | |
Dr. Marco Demaria is an Associate Professor in Cellular Ageing at the Medical Faculty of the University of Groningen. In 2018, he co-founded a start-up company, Cleara Biotech, devoted to developing anti-senescence drugs. Today, Dr. Demaria shares his insights and research on how senescence promotes aging and factors that promote the creation of senescent cells. In this episode, Dr. Demaria explains what cellular senescence means and discusses the good and bad that comes with having senescent cells in the body. He explains the role of senolytics in combating senescent cells and how senescent cells could be the cause of the severity of COVID in older people. In this episode, you’ll learn how senescent cells contribute to aging, the evolution of the senescent field, some current studies in the field, and what Dr. Demaria hopes to see in the field in years to come. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “A cell that is in an early senescence state seems to be different from a senescence cell in a late state.” “The next generation of senolytic drugs should definitely focus on dissecting the targets that they want to reach, because of the potential side effect of administering a general senolytic that could interfere with beneficial senescence.” “What we call senolytic drugs and compounds are mostly repurposed drugs.” “We also want to make this study of stem cell longevity in mice and in mouse tissues, because we think that might be another mechanism by which we can improve health, which is maintaining the stem cell pool because we retard the aging of the stem cells.” “There are two prominent senescence groups that are now using senolytics in the clinic for COVID-19 patients.” “There is no magic bullet so far that we have found but just because we haven't probably combined the right interventions at the right moment in the right context.” “The experiments I would like to see done are to combine approaches that target different aspects of aging.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Cleara Biotech Website | |||
| The TAME trial and beyond (Dr. Nir Barzilai — AECOM) | 26 Jan 2022 | 00:48:40 | |
The TAME trial and beyond (Dr. Nir Barzilai) Dr. Nir Barzilai is the founding director of the Institute for Aging Research, the Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, and the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Human Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. He is also the author of the book Age Later. Today, Dr. Nir brings his expertise to the podcast for a discussion regarding longevity and aging. Nir starts the conversation with a discussion on the existing regulatory frameworks that create impediments to the longevity biotech sector such as the FDA regulations. He also explores the use of metformin in combating age-related diseases, the clinical trials surrounding metformin being carried out in the Longevity Biotech Association, dealing with members of the government, and his perspective regarding what longevity biotech will be like in 5 years. In this episode, you’ll learn the uses of metformin and its relation to age-related diseases and what Nir hopes to see in the longevity industry in years to come . Episode Highlights:
Quotes: “Aging drives diseases and those diseases can be delayed.” “If aging drives all diseases, then it's the mother of diseases.” “After all, what are we trying to do? We are trying to prevent a cluster of age related diseases.” “Even if metformin doubles in price because of demand, it's still going to be the cheapest drug in the pharmacy.” “There are nine studies that show that people on metformin had less hospitalization, and less mortality from COVID if they were on metformin.” “Science is not a bipartisan issue.” “We need to extend the field and extend the actual funding to do it.” Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Dr. Nir Barzilai’s Twitter | |||
| Natural history & the evolution of aging (Professor Steven Austad — University of Alabama) | 12 Jan 2022 | 00:36:08 | |
Professor Steven Austad is a distinguished researcher in geroscience and the Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He's also the Director of the Nathan Shock Center at UAB and the Senior Scientific Director of the American Federation for Aging Research. Today, Professor Austad joins Bob Hughes to discuss the biology of aging. He begins by narrating the discovery that sparked his interest in aging and his transition from animal behavior to the biology of aging. He discusses how these discoveries led him to the rate of living theory—the idea that the rate of aging is determined by your metabolic rate—and explains a somewhat paradoxical aspect to this theory: the hummingbird, which has a high metabolic rate, is relatively long-lived. He goes on to review evolutionary ideas to understand the rate of living theory, shares his striking discovery about how possums age more slowly in the absence of predation, and describes both why birds of flight live longer than terrestrial birds and the unusually long lifespan of bats. Professor Austad talks of how natural history observations can accelerate more molecular and pharmacologic insights into human health, explaining, “Evolution is smarter than you.” He shares his perspective of the research enterprise: what we do well, what we don't do well, and how we can be better. He also details where he stands on aging in the private sector and for-profit aging companies, the mechanisms of age-related decline, and gives details about his bet with Jay Olshansky about a 150-year-old person being alive by 2150. Finally, Professor Austad reveals his expectations on whether more people will live to be more than 120 or 150 in the second half of the century due to interventions, and shares what he would focus on if he was given $1 billion. In this episode, you'll learn about aging in animals and humans and the factors that determine their longevity. You also hear about aging in the private sector as well as comparing today's interventions to aging with evolutionary stimulus. Episode Highlights:
Quotes: "The interesting thing is that project was about the sex ratio of the pups and was eventually published in Nature. And by the time it came out, I totally lost interest in that project, and I was off studying aging." "Evolution has this wonderful capacity to take a single-cell fertilized egg and have it develop into a healthy adult in some kind of species. It would seem to be just much easier to simply maintain that healthy adult once you have it, but yet it's almost ubiquitous that when aging occurs, that healthy adult gradually loses its health." "One of the evolutionary ideas to understand that was that evolution is all about reproduction, and what evolution will favor is whatever physiology maximizes reproductive rate." "One of the things about possums that's important to note is that about 80% of them are ultimately killed by predators." "So it's clear that the lack of predators had really had an impact on those opossums because they were just like the animals of the Galapagos, completely unafraid of humans." "The longest-lived wild bat is reported to be 41 years. And that's an animal that's about a fifth the size of a mouse." "High-frequency hearing is one of the first things we lose, but bats have to maintain that year after year after year because getting their food depends on it. They find their animals in the dark by screaming and listening for the echoes. So the fact that a bat can live over 40 years in the wild strikes me as much more impressive than if it lived 60 years in a cave somewhere." "One of my favorite quotes is that evolution is smarter than you are. I think that's true because it's just so long to experiment. And so I think evolution will have come up with solutions to, let's say, how to maintain muscles better, maintain vision longer, or maintain nerves better in some species than we currently already do in humans." "I think scientists are increasingly conservative because they want to be able to do something that they know works. And most people I know have at least half of their next grant proposal already done, half the research done before submitting the proposal. And that, to me, is a good recipe for incremental advances, but not a recipe for major breakthroughs." Links: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn Professor Steven Austad LinkedIn Professor Steven Austad Wikipedia | |||
| Personalized cell therapies at scale (Dr. Nabiha Saklayen — Cellino) | 15 Dec 2021 | 00:36:42 | |
Dr. Nabiha Saklayen is CEO & co-founder of Cellino, a personalized regenerative medicine company developing an AI-guided laser editing platform for autologous cell-based therapies. Cellino’s proprietary technology aims to make personalized stem cell-derived therapies scalable for the first time. Dr. Saklayen received her Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) International Fellow.
In this episode, she joins Chris Patil to discuss autologous cell therapy and the strides Cellino has made in cell therapy using Machine Learning and laser technology. Dr. Saklayen talks about the challenges that come with autologous cell therapy, particularly in the manufacturing and cost aspect, and how Cellino infuses automation to make this procedure easier. She discusses how machine learning is integrated in the whole process and gives a brief insight into her career as a physicist and founding Cellino. She rounds up by discussing the future of Cellino and how Cellino strives to provide solutions in cell therapy that would change the world one patient at a time and at low cost.
In this episode, you’ll learn what cell therapy is and how Dr. Saklayen, through Cellino, is reshaping the world of cell therapy and biotech as we know it.
Episode Highlights:
● What is cell therapy? ● Defining autologous cell therapies ● Examining the challenges with autologous cell therapy ● Cellino as a thought leader in the biotech industry ● The power of automation and laser therapy ● How machine learning contributes ● Dr. Saklayen’s career journey ● Going from a blood cell to a stem cell - Sendai virus and episomal vectors ● How to determine the success of an IPSC induction ● The future of Cellino ● Targeting diseases of aging ● How Cellino is providing solutions in aging aspects ● Cell therapies over small molecules ● Cellino’s goal for the next five years
Quotes:
“Cell therapy is a therapy where you make new cells for the patient and transplant them into the body to change the outcome of a disease or trajectory of a disease.”
“It's about throughput. It's about yield. It's about consistency.”
“The way we automate this process is by using machine learning algorithms that have been trained to look at images of cells and tell us which cells are high quality and which cells are not.”
“It's really amazing to be able to tap into image-based machine learning algorithms and route the autonomous self-driving car industry towards advancing a lot of the neural nets that we're using in our training.”
“I decided I want to be closer to real-world applications.”
“Working together as an industry is going to be very important.”
“Where we'd like to be in five years is we want to have our platform developed to a point where we can generate high quality patient specific cells in a reproducible manner, and do that for clinical doses.”
Links:
Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.com
Translating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcast
BIOAGE Labs Website BIOAGELabs.com
BIOAGE Labs Twitter @bioagelabs
BIOAGE Labs LinkedIn
Dr. Saklayen's TechCrunch Disrupt Talk
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