Current Aging Science

Dr. Stephen Bondy is a Professor of Neuroscience in the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of California, Irvine. He obtained M.A. at Cambridge University and a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham, UK. He holds the positions at Columbia University, UCLA, University of Colorado, and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. He is the author of around 300 articles and reviews. The unifying concept underlying his current studies is that the aging brain is subject to gradually increasing levels of inflammation unprovoked by exogenous immune stimuli. This effect can be worsened by specific environmental factors or ameliorated by appropriate nutritional supplementation. Since brain aging is an essential contributing factor to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, remedial action to reduce age-related excessive neuro inflammation, is likely to reduce the incidence of age-linked neurological disease.

Prof. Popa-Wagner’s group is concerned with cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying aging progression and its significance for brain diseases. Recent research is focused on cellular therapy of stroke by a variety of stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes. Dr. Popa-Wagner received his PhD in Biochemistry at the Institute of Biochemistry, University of Karlsruhe, Germany, followed by postdoctoral training at Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. Recently, he joined the group of Vascular Neurology and Dementia at the Clinic of Neurology, Medical University, Essen, Germany.

Dr. Abdelmohsen received his Ph.D. from Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany in 2003. He completed post-doctoral training at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), where he has been Staff Scientist in the RNA Regulation Section since 2009. His research has focused on post-transcriptional gene regulation in mammalian models of cellular stress, cell division, senescence, and aging. He investigates the functions of ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNA-binding proteins, mRNAs, microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and circular RNAs) in these processes and implications in aging and age-related diseases.

Prof. Vladimir N. Anisimov is Head, Department of Carcinogenesis and Oncogerontology, N.N.Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, St.Petersburg, Russia. He obtained his Ph.D. (1972) and D.Sc. (1984) in oncology from the same institute. He is corresponding member of Russian Academy of Sciences. Research interests include relationship between aging and cancer, modifying factors of carcinogenesis, experimental gerontology. Since 1994 he is the president, the Russian Gerontological Society. He is Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Gerontology, author of 20 monographs, more than 400 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals 8 patents.

Dr. Alexander V. Arutjunyan is Head of the Laboratory of Biochemistry in St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology and Chief Researcher in the Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductology named after D.O. Ott, St. Petersburg, Russia. He received his PhD in 1968 and his doctorate in 1977 at the Institute of Biochemistry, Yerevan, Armenia. Before moving to St. Petersburg in 1990, he headed the Nucleotide Exchange Laboratory in the above institute. During those years, he trained at Brandeis University, USA and the University of Shimano, Izumo, Japan. The subject of his research at that time was the regulation of purine nucleotide cycle in the nervous tissue. His present research interests are related to the aging of reproductive system and the fetus and newborn nervous system disturbances in early ontogenesis. He is a member of the editorial boards of Advances in Gerontology and Neurochemical Journal (both published in Russia and included in WoS and Scopus databases). Investigations of Prof. A. Arutjunyan and his research group were repeatedly supported by grants from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, and in 2014, he was awarded Honored Scholarship of the Russian Federation.

Dr. Hikmet Hakan Aydin is a Turkish medical biochemist. He is a professor at the Ege University where he studies the molecular genetics and clinical biochemistry on human conditions such as cancers, longevity, and genetic inherited diseases.

Dr. Richard Bohannon is a board certified neurologic physical therapist with more than 40 years of clinical experience and doctorates in Education and Physical Therapy. He has served as Editor in Chief of two journals and as a reviewer for more than 100 others. He is the author of over 400 peer-reviewed publications- most of which focus on older adults or adults with neurologic disorders. He is a fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association, American Heart Association, and the American Society of Neurorehabilitation.

Dr. Ufuk Çakatay is a senior scientist at the Department of Medical Biochemistry, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University. Previously, he worked as an Associate Professor at the Central Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. His research interests include the optimization of various bioanalytical methods for measuring the levels of redox status biomarkers in aging tissues, anti-aging interventions, establishment experimental animal models for aging studies, and redoxtasis in age-related disorders. He has a long-standing interest in oxidative protein damage and proteostasis biomarkers. Professor Çakatay has authored more than 100 publications in several leading journals, which include research papers, book chapters, editorials and invited reviews on free radical biology, aging, diabetes, and biological activity of alpha-lipoic acid. He has served as a guest editor, referee or member of the editorial board for more than 50 journals.

Dr. Milan Chang Gudjonsson is currently working as a Senior Researcher at the Icelandic Gerontological Research Center, Landspitali University Hospital, Iceland. She completed her PhD in Doctoral Program of Health & Sport Sciences from the University of Tsukuba, Japan. Her research interests include cognitive function and physical condition related to lifestyle and physical activity among older adults . She has had articles published in many well-renowned journals such as Japanese Journal of Physical Education, The American Journal of Cardiology etc.

Dr. De Martinis, obtained his Degree in Medicine and Surgery and Specialization in Internal Medicine with honors at University of L’Aquila, Italy. Currently, he is a Researcher - Aggregate Professor of Internal Medicine at the Department of Life, Health and Environmental Science, University of L’Aquila. He is a Lecturer in Internal Medicine, Haematology, Oncology, Emergency Medicine, Immunology in several First, Second and Specialization Degree Courses. He is the Coordinator for residents of the Internal Medicine Specialization School (1997-2001) and Allergology and Clinical Immunology Specialization School (2007-today). He was a Chief of the Cytoimmunology Laboratory. He authored several publications on relevant International Journals and chapters in books.

Dr. Natalia S. Gavrilova obtained her Ph.D. degree in 1982 from Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. Dr. Gavrilova is presently serving as Research Associate at University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Her areas of specialization include demography and gerontology, bio-demography of longevity, mortality and aging, biomarkers in population-based aging research, and health and sexuality at older ages. She is also a member of different professional societies, such as Gerontological Society of America, Population Association of America, etc. Dr. Gavrilova has contributed more than 70 publications, having over 1,675 total citations.

Dr. J.M. Harper is presently serving as an Associate Professor at Department of Biological Sciences Sam Houston State University. He obtained his PhD in Zoology from the University of Idaho, Moscow. He is serving as an Associate Editor, Editorial Board Member and other editorial position in different scientific journals. He has been honored postdoctoral fellowship and scholarships and also a recipient of American Aging Association Travel Award, Mark J. Diamond Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research and many other awards. He is also a member of different professional societies such as Phi Sigma Society, American Physiological Society and others.

Dr. Michael Harris-Love is a rehabilitation scientist and Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. He is a Professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Colorado and faculty member with the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center within the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System. He has academic training in exercise science and graduate degrees from the Mayo Clinic and University of Indianapolis. He is a former U.S. Bone and Joint Decade Fellow with post-doctoral training in clinical research at Georgetown University/Children’s National Hospital. He previously served as a clinician-investigator at the National Institutes of Health and Washington DC VA Medical Center. His primary area of interest is the assessment of sarcopenia and myosteatosis in older adults.

Dr. Hefti is the President and CEO of Proclara Biosciences, a biotechnology company developing new medications for Alzheimer’s and related diseases. He previously held senior positions at several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and earlier in his career. He was a Professor of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, where he carried out seminal research on therapeutic applications of neurotrophic factors. He received his PhD from the University of Zurich and completed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Max Planck Institute in Munich. Dr. Hefti has published extensively on topics in neuropharmacology and aging.

Ivan Y. Iourov heads the laboratory of molecular brain genetics at Mental Health Research Center, Moscow, Russia. His research is focused on biological basis of neuropsychiatric diseases, molecular genetics and bioinformatics. He is author/co-author of 4 books and 220 articles/book chapters. Prof Iourov is a founder of Molecular Cytogenetics, editor-in-chief of Journal of Neurology and Epidemiology, and editor of Current Genomics and Current Bioinformatics (regional editor). The results of his research were distinguished by a number of awards, among which SciVal/Scopus Award Russia 2012 (Elsevier prize), and VM Bekhterev’s Prize he received were for the highest scientific achievements in neurology and psychiatry, the Grant of the President of the Russian Federation and Blue Bird Award (Russian National Award) for the achievements in helping people with rare diseases, improvement of the legislation, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with rare diseases, and scientific research in the field of rare diseases and orphan drugs.

Dr. Li Li Ji is currently the Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene and Exercise Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He received his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and served on the faculty of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and UW-Madison from 1987-2011. Dr. Ji’s research expertise is in the area of cellular and molecular exercise physiology, especially the role of free radicals and antioxidants, exercise adaptation, impact of nutrition to health and disease, redox signaling, and aging.

Dr. Marios Kyriazis has an MD from the University of Rome,and an MSc in Gerontology from the University of London. He is a Chartered Member of the Royal Society of Biology and he has a post-graduate qualification in Geriatric Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians. Dr. Kyriazis has a portfolio of over 1000 articles, papers and lectures in the field of healthy aging. His research has led the Office of the President of Cyprus to recommend him for nomination for the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2017.

Dr. Maguire’s graduate training was at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Houston, University of Texas, The Marine Biological Lab, Woods Hole, MA, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He has been an NIH funded professor of neuroscience and ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego, a visiting professor of physiology at Keio University in Tokyo, visiting professor of molecular neurobiology at the University of Washington, faculty at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, a visiting scientist at Harvard University, and an NIH funded bioengineer at the University of California, Berkeley..He was awarded a Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship from the NIH.

Prof. Monastero is an Italian board certified Neurologist, PhD in Neurophysiopathology, with 4-year research fellowship in Neuropsychology at the University of Palermo with specific training in behavioural neurology and neuropsychology. He spent nearly 3 years at the Aging Research Center, Geriatric Epidemiology Section, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, where he obtained a Marie-Curie Post-Doc Fellowship. He is Associate Professor of Neurology at the Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Palermo and coordinate the activity of the Memory Clinic at the Universitary Hospital in Palermo. He has published more than 70 scientific publications. His research focuses on the epidemiology aspects of dementia, pre-dementia syndromes and Parkinson's disease.

Dr. John I. Nurnberger Jr. is Distinguished Professor and Joyce and Iver Small Professor of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine. He’s the Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry for Preclinical Research and also directs the Institute of Psychiatric Research at IU. He has Adjunct appointments in Medical and Molecular Genetics and Medical Neuroscience. His main area of interest is in psychiatric genetics. He studies primarily bipolar affective disorder, alcohol dependence, and autism. He is involved in multicenter collaborative efforts to identify single genes and trace their effect on brain function and on vulnerability to psychiatric illness over the lifespan.

Dr. Kedar N. Prasad obtained a Ph.D. in Radiation Biology from the University of Iowa. He went to Brookhaven National Laboratory for postdoctoral training. Dr. Prasad was Professor and the Director for the Center for Vitamins and Cancer Research in the Department of Radiology at the University of Colorado Medical School. He published over 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Science, and PNAS, and was supported by the NIH for over 30 years. He has edited and authored 25 books on the role of micronutrients in radiation damage and neurodegenerative diseases. In 1982, he was invited by the Nobel Prize Committee to nominate a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. He is a former President of the International Society for Nutrition and Cancer. Currently, he is Chief Scientific Officer of Engage Global.

Dr. Michael Ross is Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA School of Public Health. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS), Harvard Medical School (MD) and Harvard School of Public Health (MPH). Dr. Ross completed Ob/Gyn residency at the Brigham and Womens Hospital, and Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship at Harbor-UCLA and Cedars Sinai Medical Centers. Dr. Ross served as Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center form 1996-2011. He has over 300 peer reviewed publications, 600 published abstracts, five text books and numerous print and electronic book chapters. Dr. Ross is the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (Cambridge University Press) as well as a member of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Physiology, Journal of Maternal Fetal and Neonatal Medicine and Reproductive Sciences. He is a recognized expert in fetal physiology and clinical obstetrics. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, March of Dimes, United Cerebral Palsy, American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association.

Dr. Paul obtained Ph.D. (“Analysis of metacyclic telomeres in Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense”) from University of Glasgow. He also received Post Graduate Certificate of Education in 2004 from the same institution and presently serving there as a Professor of Geoscience. Dr. Paul has contributed more than 200 publications in different international journals, having citations around 4,328. He also achieved awards such as Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept award, 2004 and 2006, Irish American Foundation Scholarship award (1989) and .

Dr. Smith received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Queensland, Australia. He then was a post-doc and assistant professor at UC San Diego where he acquired genomics expertise with the advent of microarray technologies. Since returning to Australia he has been leading a group investigating how aging impacts the CNS, with particular focus on how the brain becomes increasingly susceptible to the development of cognitive impairment and dementia. These studies primarily involve initial discovery-driven approaches (genomics, RNA-Seq, cell type-specific qPCR), with follow-up targeted studies. The overall long-term goal of the group is to improve brain health span.

Dr. Sonneborn studies how the threshold levels of stress can trigger rejuvenation, antiaging, and disease intervention.She used paramecia and rats as model systems to uncover strategies to tap into our natural reserves to tolerate challenge of radiation in aging paramecia, and mimetics of ischemic stress in rats to active stress tolerance. She is now following new scientific discoveries and technologies for clues for therapeutics to harness the benefit of molecular interventions for health and age-related disease intervention with mimetics of stress or ancient stress-resistance regulators, like telomease.

Dr. Sohrabi completed his PhD in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in September 2010. He has authored/co-authored more than 70 papers(56 in the last 5 year) in peer-reviewed journals including Lancet Neurology, Molecular Psychiatry, Neuroscience & Bio behavioral Reviews, JAMA, Annals of Neurology, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Neurobiology of Aging, Scientific Report, and Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. Sohrabi is a regular reviewer for different scientific journals as well as being on editorial board of Frontiers in Neuroscience journals.

Dr. Marco Tatullo is the Scientific Director of “Tecnologica Research Institute”. Dr. Marco Tatullo is Medicine Doctor (MD) and Doctor in Dental Sciences (DDS) , PhD in “Medical Biochemistry, Medical Biology and Physics” . International collaborator of “Institut de Biologie Paris-Seine” (IBPS) France. Visiting Professor at the University “City Unity College” of Athens and at the “Bithai dental and medical college” in Pakistan. Author of over 70 publications in international journals. Editor in Chief of the book “Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Innovative Biomaterials in Dentistry" published with Springer-Nature. Committee Member for BIODEVICES international conference and past-Chair in T.E.R.M.I.S. symposium.

Dr MK Thakur is Professor in Zoology, and Coordinator, Interdisciplinary School of Life Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, India. He has published 135 papers in peer-reviewed journals and two books on ‘Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology’ and ‘Brain Aging and Therapeutic Interventions’. He was awarded DAAD, Rockefeller Foundation, MRC and JSPS fellowship. He was conferred INSA Medal, ICMR Marwah award and BHU Gold Medal. He is former President of IAN and AGI and Council Member of IAGG, fellow of IAN, NASI, member of NAMS, Editorial Board member Frontiers in Genetics of Aging, Biogerontology, Current Aging Science, Asian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics.

Dr. Vadakkan obtained his MD in Biochemistry from the Calicut University, India and PhD in Physiology/Neuroscience from the University of Toronto, Canada. Following post-doctoral training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, Dr. Vadakkan completed residency program in Neurology at the University of Manitoba, Canada and fellowship work in Cognitive Neurology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Vadakkan’s primary research involves exploring the suitability of a derived mechanism of generation of first-person inner sensations within the “mind”. As a continuation of this work, he has been examining age-related neurodegenerative disorders.

Dr. Burak Yulug is Professor of Neurology in Alanya University. He is a Stroke neurologist. After finishing his residency training in Turkey and Germany at many University Clinics, he has worked as a scientist in many Brain Research Centers in Germany and Switzerland. His main interest is Neuroregeneration and Neurodegeneration Research. Dr. Yulug has published more than 40 papers in SCI journals as the first author. He has also contributed to many international book chapters.

Professor Yurov is the Head of Cytogenetics and Genomics Laboratory at Mental Health Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences. After finishing at the Moscow State University (1974) he obtained a 1st doctorate in Genetics and a 2nd doctorate (1988) in Molecular Cytogenetics and Neurosciences at Russian Academy of Medical Science. His publishing history (1976-2016) includes more than 200 scientific publications referred by Scopus and PubMed, 15 monographs and books as well 10 patents. Professor Yurov is also a Founder Editor and Co-Editor-in-Chief of “Molecular Cytogenetics” (BioMed Central - Springer), Co-Editor of journal "Fundamental Investigations", Russian Academy of Natural History as well as an Editorial Board Member of Current Aging Science, Journal of Pediatric Genetics, Journal of Pediatric Neurology, Open Journal of Genetics and Word Journal of Medical Genetics.

Dr Arancio got his Ph.D. in 2008 with a thesis regarding chromatin remodeling. Nowadays, his main research topics concern the molecular aspects that underlie the processes of human aging and their effects on tumor transformation. The studies regard the mutual influences between repeated sequences, ncRNAs, nuclear lamins, with particular emphasis on HGPS, chromatin remodeling, nuclear architecture and epigenetic modifications, functional cell states (identity, stemness and senescence), microenvironment, endocrine function. The final aim of his studies is to identify, in the context of personalized medicine and technology transfer, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, preferably from liquid biopsies, and specific therapeutic targets.

Dr. Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman is an Associate Professor at Biochemistry Department, King Saud University. He has authored two Books ‘Nanoscale Biophysics of the Cell’ and ‘Membrane Biophysics’, both published by Springer. Dr. Ashrafuzzaman is a highly accomplished scientist in the biophysics discipline and has published more than 40 quality research papers in reputed peer reviewed journals. He recently obtained a US patent that addresses drug distribution/quantification at the target biomolecules. This discovery has revolutionized the understanding of drug effects and off-target distribution causing toxicity. Dr. Ashrafuzzaman is especially recognized for discovering a generalized charge-based membrane protein-lipid interaction mechanism.

Dr. E. Paul Cherniack completed a study of assessing the effects of supplementation of vitamin D on calciotropic hormones and safety in the same subject population in this proposal that was recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. He is currently a co-investigator on a project to determine the effects supplementation of vitamin D on the physical performance of the elderly. He has written numerous publications about the effects of vitamin D, resveratrol, and plant polyphenols in the elderly including several book chapters about the vitamin D, polyphenols and health. He has been designated the Miami site Principal Investigator for a multi-site Merit Review Project on evaluation of low back pain in the elderly. He is currently the Director of the Geriatrics Clinic at the Miami VA Medical Center and an Associate Professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Ahmet Turan, MD, is presently serving as a Director, Department of Geriatric Medicine and Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the School of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. His research interests are in Cognitive Impairment in The Older Adults, Late Onset Alzheimer’ Disease, Cardiac effects of anti-dementia drugs, Experimental Neurodegenerative Disease and Geriatrics. He has contributed more than 80 publications, having citations around 958.

Dr. Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz earned his PhD in Gerontology with a focus on psychosocial gerontology from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2011. Dr. Momtaz worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing (MyAgeing) from 2011 to 2014 and was appointed as an adjunct Research Associate with the MyAgeing and a faculty member at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran in 2015. He has designed and conducted a number of research projects on aging and published several scientific papers in reputed and refereed international journals. His research interests include research methods, questionnaire development, data management, scientific writing, and statistical analysis.