The Next Step in Aging Research: From Bench to Bedside

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As the population ages, the societal implications and costs of age-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementias, and cancer will increase significantly. Basic aging research was initially focused on describing features of aging and more recently on mechanisms modulating lifespan. Initial steps towards interventions are being taken, mainly with respect to lifespan. There has been little communication between basic biologists and clinical geriatricians. Clinical geriatric research has been much more focused on function and frailty. The need to translate the substantial recent advances in our understanding of mechanisms of lifespan from the bench to the bedside is immense given increasing numbers of older people and huge economic strains on the health care system. Aging research needs to be expanded to encompass a translational effort to enhance focus on interventions that increase healthspan and function, rather than lifespan alone. We propose a three day meeting to provide a forum to discuss how we can begin the process of translating promising recent findings in the basic biology of aging into clinically relevant therapeutic strategies to increase healthspan. This meeting will begin the process of facilitating interactions among basic researchers and clinical investigators who are focused on developing interventions for increasing healthspan, delaying frailty, as well as enhancing lifespan. The meeting will break new ground by creating a framework to facilitate translation and collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians through the following specific aims: 1) To provide a forum to outline findings in the basic biology of aging and discuss how they might relate to clinical practice, 2) To foster links between basic research practitioners and clinical geriatricians, and 3) To facilitate interaction of established investigators with young investigators, both basic scientists and clinicians. Topics addressed will be relevant to translational research: cellular senescence, animal models, therapeutic targets, frailty, and clinical needs. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: As the population ages, the societal implications and costs of age-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementias, and cancer will significantly increase. The need to translate findings from the bench to the bedside is overwhelming given economic strains on the health care system, increasing numbers of older people, and the substantial advances in our understanding of mechanisms of lifespan. We propose a three day meeting that provides a forum to discuss how promising recent findings in the basic biology of aging can be translated into therapeutic strategies to increase healthspan that may potentially be moved into the clinic.