Symposium on Aging Research scheduled for Oct. 16


By Roman Petrowski, Office of Communications

Symposium on Aging ResearchThe 7th Annual Uthealth Houston Symposium on Aging Research, highlighting the ongoing clinical and basic aging research at UTHealth Houston, will be held from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., Oct. 16 at the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine.

Registration for the event and can be found here.

The featured keynote speaker is Nicholas Musi, MD, director of endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Musi trained in internal medicine at the University of Miami and completed a fellowship in endocrinology at Harvard’s Joslin Diabetes Center before later joining its faculty. He previously led the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at The University of Texas.

Musi has been recognized with prestigious awards like the Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award and the American Diabetes Association Translational Award. His research focuses on the effects of aging on metabolic processes and related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and sarcopenia.

Speakers from UTHealth Houston include Aanand Naik, MD; Mikhail Kolonin, PhD; Vihang Narkar, PhD; Andrew Pickering, PhD; Yejin Kim, PhD; Jose Felix Moruno Manchon, PhD; Kevin Lin, PhD; and Andrea Stavoe, PhD. Additional speakers are Melissa Markofski, PhD; and George Taffet, MD.

The symposium also features a full day of presentations on various aging-related topics by UTHealth Houston faculty and invited scholars. A highlight of the event is the project pitch competition, where junior researchers, supported by the Harry E. Bovay Jr. Foundation, will compete for a total of $30,000 in seed funding to three nominees.

These grants are intended to support pilot studies in aging research and are aimed at faculty who have not previously received support through this program. The primary objective of these awards is to provide preliminary funding for aging-related research, that will enable researchers to develop their projects and enhance their prospects for securing larger extramural grants. More information on proposals can be found here.