Presentation on “Aging and Chronic Disease” offered at MJC
The Modesto Area Partners in Science (MAPS) will offer the presentation “Aging and Chronic Disease – A View from the Aging Side” by TEDx speaker Brian Kennedy, Ph.D., biologist, CEO and president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. The free event is scheduled for Friday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Auditorium of the Performing and Media Arts Center on East Campus, 435 College Avenue, Modesto.
The potential to directly impact human health span is emerging from aging research and this approach, if successful, will dramatically impact medical care in this century which is characterized by a rapidly aging global population. Kennedy will describe how agents extending health span might be developed to improve human health.
Aging is the biggest risk factor for the growing prominence of major chronic diseases. These include cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer. If aging can be slowed, the effect would be simultaneous protection from many of the chronic diseases.
There is a growing sense that a holistic understanding of aging biology may be achievable. This would represent a tremendous advance in the collective biological understanding and afford opportunities for novel interventions to enhance human health span.
Kennedy has an international reputation for his innovative work in the basic biology of aging. He became the Buck Institute’s second CEO in July, 2010, coming from the University of Washington in Seattle where he served in the Department of Biochemistry. He has published more than 60 manuscripts in science journals including Cell, Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been an associate editor for the Journal of Gerontology since 2006, and also serves as a consultant for biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
The National Geographic Channel's Breakthrough series featured “The Age of Aging” with the Buck Institute in November 2015, directed and narrated by Ron Howard. See: http://www.buckinstitute.org/content/national-geographic-channel-breakthrough-series-features-buck
The free public MAPS event is intended for people over 12 years of age. MAPS programs are made possible by contributions from ASMJC, the MJC Foundation and the MJC STEM program.
For more information about the MAPS program visit the website http://maps.events.mjc.edu/, the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Modesto-Area-Partners-in-Science/244618054801 or contact Professor Hughes at 575-6800 or hughesn@mjc.edu.