November 15, 2018 LBNL EX-Ls Luncheon

Our 2018 November 15, Luncheon will be held at the DoubleTree. Lunch is served at noon. Full information can be found here.

LUNCHEON SPEAKER: We are pleased to have Dr. Judith Campisi, Buck Institute for Research on Aging and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

TITLE OF TALK: The Essence of Senescence

ABSTRACT: Aging is a complex, multisystem process that exacts an enormous emotional and economic toll on societies. Understanding and manipulating this process is a big challenge in biomedical research, and is the focus of the Campisi laboratory. Many age-related changes and pathologies are caused by cellular responses to endogenous and environmental stimuli. Understanding these responses is essential to developing safe interventions that can extend the years of healthy life in human populations. A question that will be addressed in the talk is: Why is aging the largest risk for developing so many apparently disparate diseases, ranging from neurodegeneration to cancer? One answer to this question lies in the evolutionarily selected, stress-responsive state termed cellular senescence. Senescent cells cease proliferation, which prevents early life cancer. They also secrete numerous molecules that promote tissue repair and regeneration. However, because senescent cells gradually accumulate with age, they eventually cause tissue degeneration, chronic inflammation, and many age-related diseases, including, ironically, late life cancer. The talk will provide an overview on the Campisi lab studies of the regulation and characteristics of cell states, with an emphasis on cellular senescence. The understanding of how cell states cause both the degenerative diseases of aging as well as cancer and the design of strategies to modulate or ameliorate these effects will also be discussed.

BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Judith Campisi, Dr. Campisi received a PhD in biochemistry from the State University of New York Stony Brook, and postdoctoral training in cancer biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. She joined the Boston University Medical School as Assistant and Associate Professor before joining the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as Senior Scientist. In 2002, she started a second laboratory at the Buck Institute for Age Research, where she is Professor. At both institutions, she established a broad program to understand the relationship between aging and disease, with an emphasis on cancer and aging. Her laboratory made several pioneering discoveries in these areas, and her research continues to challenge and alter existing paradigms. Campisi received numerous awards, including two MERIT awards from the National Institute on Aging, and awards from the AlliedSignal Corporation, Gerontological Society of America and American Federation for Aging Research, the Longevity prize from the IPSEN Foundation, and the first international Olav Thon Foundation prize. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and member of the National Academy of Sciences. She serves on numerous national and international editorial and scientific advisory boards.

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If you have questions call or text Kathy Bjornstad at (510) 220-1273; you can email her at kathy.bjornstad73@gmail.com

If you are paying by check It would be easier for us for you to register on Eventbrite. If you do that, then you only have to mail your check to Kathy Bjornstad, Activities Chair, 4343 Arden Place, Oakland, CA. 94602 and not fill out the registration form. Please be sure to make checks out to EX-Ls.