Biological Sciences Program at The Gerontological Society of America's Annual Scientific Meeting

Gerontological Society Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY This proposal requests funding from the National Institute on Aging for the Biological Sciences Section Program at the 2018 Boston, MA Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). Our aim for Biological Sciences programming is to highlight the highest-quality research with translational potential in the biology of aging. We believe that the best work in the field of gerontology at large will emerge when basic biological researchers exchange information about health-related human aging issues with medical researchers and practitioners, psychologists, sociologists, and public policy experts. In turn, improvements in clinical care and public health are likely to result when gerontologists from diverse disciplines better understand basic mechanisms of aging are exposed to the latest and best research with the promise of yielding interventions to ameliorate aging and age-related disease. We in the Biological Sciences section take very seriously our responsibility to expose our members, those of Biological Sciences and GSA at large, to well-communicated, cutting-edge science that ultimately serves to inform and improve the work of all who attend. The annual GSA meeting is situated uniquely in the U.S. to promote an interdisciplinary effort of this scope, and the 2018 November meeting in Boston will provide a pivotal opportunity to expand our reach internationally. Since 2010, the Biological Sciences Section has demonstrated quantifiable success in producing a scientific program of the highest possible quality, and providing a forum to engender interaction and exchange of ideas among scientists from disparate fields. In November 2018, we propose to intensify and extend our efforts, through a single-track meeting program featuring emerging, translational concepts in the basic biology of aging; to promote discussion and networking among attendees across sections; to enact gender balance in the oral program; and to feature talented junior investigators prominently in Biological Sciences symposia. In Boston, we will begin with a pre- meeting, day-long workshop on Geroscience, organized by Dr. Felipe Sierra of the NIA. During the meeting, some 25 (non-competing) oral sessions will be held. All of these sessions were suggested by GSA members following an open call for proposals, thus opening up the topic and speaker selection process. In addition, one speaker in each session will be selected by committee from submitted abstracts. There will also be two poster sessions scheduled so as not to compete with talks. Speaker registration fees, AV, room rentals, and M & S costs will be waived by GSA (without charge to grant funds) thus enabling us to use the entire grant budget to attract new, distinguished, and especially young investigators to present their work at the meeting. We will encourage minority scientists to apply for 10 minority scholars awards. Our program shows that some 49% of all speakers will be young and/or new investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and PhD students giving oral presentations. Significantly, for the first time, more than half of all the speakers, some 57% in fact, will be women.