COVINGTON, Va. (VR) – Two lectures concerning human longevity, part of a Distinguished Lecturer Series hosted by the Jackson River Governor’s School at Mountain Gateway Community College, will be presented via a Zoom meeting on Thursday, April 13. The guest speaker is Steven Austad, distinguished professor and chair of the department of biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and senior scientific director of the American Federal for Aging Research.
The first presentation, sponsored jointly by the Greenbrier Valley Chapter of Sigma Xi and JRGS, will begin at 9 a.m. The topic is “The 150-Year Old Human: How Soon? How Desirable?”
The second presentation, beginning at noon and sponsored jointly by Sigma Xi and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, is titled “Methuselah’s Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Healthier Lives.”
The public is invited to the 9 a.m. lecture in Room 424, Warren Hall, on the MGCC Clifton Forge campus, or join the meeting via Zoom. The meeting ID is 813 7915 6791, and the passcode is 065493.
The public may also join the noon meeting via Zoom. The meeting ID is 835 3652 5588, and the passcode is 809320. The phone-in number for both is 301-715-8592.
Austad received his Ph.D. degree in biological sciences from Purdue University in 1981 and accepted his first faculty position at Harvard University in 1986. In 2004, he was recruited to the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in San Antonio, where he became director of the Barshop Institute for Aging and Longevity before moving to his current position at UAB in 2014.
His research encompasses many aspects of the biology of aging from the molecular to the population level, and his research specialty is the identification and study of nontraditional species – particularly exceptionally long-lived species – for insight into processes of slow aging and in pursuing knowledge of mechanisms of sex differences in aging and its treatment.
With an abiding interest in communicating science to the general public, he has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of National Public Radio and written more than 150 op-ed columns for newspapers and national electronic and print media. His trade book, “Why We Age,” has been translated into nine languages. His most recent book, with the same title as the talk he will give on April 13, was published by MIT Press in the fall of last year.
For more information, contact JRGC Director Eddie Graham at 540-863-2872 or egraham@mgcc.edu.
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