Aging: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Life Span

February 2 - February 7, 1999

Sheraton Tamarron Resort; Durango, Colorado

Organizers: Prof. Judith Campisi and Jan Vijg



Abstract Deadline: October 2, 1998

Early Registration: December 2, 1998

Summary

Aging is the ultimate expression of the interplay between an organism's genes and its environment and life history. It is now clear that multiple genes control the rate and manner in which organisms age. In addition, environmental and physiological stress strongly influence aging phenotypes. This Conference will review current research on the genetic control of life span and its response to environmental stress. It will position the field of aging research to take advantage of the revolution in genomics research, and integrate emerging information on molecular determinants of longevity with the phenotypes of aging organisms. Sessions will address the evolution of aging; model systems; longevity-determining genes and their effects on stress responses; cellular aging in humans; genetic and biochemical manipulation of longevity and stress responses in mammals; mammalian age-related disease genes and polymorphisms; and current approaches from mining the human genome for candidate longevity genes.

Tuesday, February 2nd

2:00 PM - 7:00 PM Registration

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM Welcome

7:30 PM - 8:00 PM Orientation

8:00 PM - 9:30 PM Keynote Address

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

David Schlessinger, National Institutes of Health/National Inst of Aging
Functional Genomics and Genetics of Aging

Mina J. Bissell, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Dynamic Interactions Between the Microenvironment and the Genome Regulate
Tissue-Specificity and Homeostasis

Wednesday, February 3rd

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM Breakfast

8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Plenary Session

EVOLUTION OF AGING: NATURE VS. NURTURE

Marc Tatar, Brown University
Implications of Evolutionary Genetics for Biogerontology

Steven Austad, University of Idaho
Evolution of Aging at the Cellular Level

Richard A. Miller, University of Michigan
Genetics of Longevity and Age-Dependent Traits in Mice

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Poster Setup

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Poster Session 1

Evolution of Aging: Nature vs. Nurture/Lower Eukaryotic Models: Genes, Environment and Aging/Aging and Environmental Stress/Aging and Genetics

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Social Hour

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Plenary Session

LOWER EUKARYOTIC MODELS: GENES, ENVIRONMENT, AND AGING

S. Michal Jazwinski, Louisiana State University
The Interplay Between Genes, Stress and Other Epigenetic Factors in Yeast Aging

John G. Tower, University of Southern California
Engineering Drosophila Life Span with Inducible Transgenic Systems

Thomas E. Johnson, University of Colorado
Genetic and Environmental Manipulation of Longevity in C. elegans

Thursday, February 4th

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM Breakfast

8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Plenary Session

HIGHER EUKARYOTIC MODELS: CELLS

Judith Campisi, University of California-Berkeley
Cellular Senescence - In culture and in vivo

Olivia M. Pereira-Smith, Baylor College of Medicine
Cellular Senescence Determining Gene

Calvin B. Harley, Geron Corporation
Telomerase: The Key Determinant of Cell Immortality

Dale E. Bredesen, Burnham Institute
Age-Associated Neurodegenerative Disease Mechanisms

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Poster Setup

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Poster Session 2

Higher Eukaryotic Models: Cells/Mice/Human Genes: Aging and Disease Genes

A Look to the Future: Genome-Wide Approaches

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Social Hour

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Plenary Session

HIGHER EUKARYOTIC MODELS: MICE

Charles J. Epstein, University of California-San Francisco
Genetic Control of the Phenotype of Mice Lacking Manganese Superoxide Dismutase

Gary Van Zant, University of Kentucky Medical Center
What Genes Regulating Hematopoietic Stem Cells May Tell Us About Aging

Friday, February 5th

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM Breakfast

8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Plenary Session

AGING AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS

Nikki J. Holbrook, National Institutes of Health
Age-Related Alterations in Proliferation-Associated and Stress-Activated Signaling Pathways

Barbara A. Gilchrest, Boston University
The SOS Response in Human Skin: Role in Mitigating Photoaging and Photocarcinogenesis

Arlan G. Richardson, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio
Using Transgenic Mice to Study Dietary Restriction and Aging

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Oral Poster Session

Presentations to be Chosen from Poster Abstracts

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Social Hour

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Plenary Session

AGING AND GENETIC STRESS

Jan Vijg, Cancer Therapy and Research Center
Aging and Genomic Mutations in vivo

Jan H.J. Hoeijmakers, Erasmus University
DNA Damage, Repair, Transcription, Cancer and the Aging Problem

Vilhelm A. Bohr, National Institutes of Health
DNA Repair and Transcription Deficiencies in Premature Aging Syndromes

Ronald DePinho, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Tumor Suppressors, Telomerase and Tumorigenesis

Saturday, February 6th

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM Breakfast

8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Plenary Session

HUMAN GENES: AGING/DISEASE GENES

Junko Oshima, University of Washington
The Werner Syndrome Gene: Function and Regulation

Rudolph E. Tanzi, Massachusetts General Hospital
Genetic Determinants and Molecular Models for Alzheimer's Disease

Eugenia Wang, McGill University
Human Longevity and Apoptosis Gene Regulation

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM Plenary Session

A LOOK TO THE FUTURE: GENOME-WIDE APPROACHES

Patrick O. Brown, Stanford University
Claudio Franceschi, Italian National Research Centre on Aging
Longevity Genes: Is There an Approach That is the Best of All?