If you are wondering whether the world is starting to treat longevity science as an important and serious matter, surely the scheduling of the Phaedon Insitute’s first-ever SenoTherapeutics Summit is a big indicator (https://longevity.technology/news/senotherapeutics-summit-set-to-pioneer-advancements-in-longevity-research/). Planned as a biennial event, the fact that so many different people and organizations can be brought together for a common purpose suggests that senotherapeutics is a growing field.
Senotherapeutics is a relatively new but fast-growing area of longevity research that looks to alleviate or outright reverse senescence and its harmful effects. Senescence is the process of cellular aging that causes cells to deteriorate, stop working properly and sometimes actively cause damage with their presence. It is associated with a range of age-related conditions.
The first summit will be held in November 2023 in Novato, California, home to the world-leading Buck Institute for Research Aging. Attendees will include academic researchers, industry leaders, biotech companies, pharmaceutical companies, investors, government and regulatory agencies. Organizers are carefully curating the guest list and choice of speakers, providing limited space for only top experts who pass the screening process.
It is hoped that Past, Present & Future of the Science of Cellular Senescence and Therapeutics, to give the summit its full title, will encourage collaboration between the many attending stakeholders, allowing them to identify their shared goals, tackle problems and failures, and coordinate strategic plans for the future.
As Phaedon’s Professor Marco Demaria, one of the event’s speakers, says, “The goal of the summit is to facilitate the interaction among various disciplines and to move interventions forward as quickly and as safely as possible.”
Overall, the summit has a broad-ranging program covering every aspect of senotherapeutic research, from the underlying science and the preclinical stage to clinical development and further progress. Topics of discussion have been divided into eight broad areas:
– Basic biology
– Biomarkers
– Preclinical perspectives
– Pharmacy
– Industry
– Therapeutics
– Regulatory and market access
– Investment
At the end of the summit, a white paper will be produced and later published in an official scientific journal so that those who could not attend will have access to all the relevant critical insights and findings. This should ensure that knowledge and ideas can continue to be disseminated and research can continue to progress in the spirit of collaboration that underpins everything about this coming-together of experts.
