May 30, 2022 -- Ian David Hickson, Ph.D., will present the latest research on the topic Chromosome instability as a driver of human disease at the world's largest annual Aging Research and Drug Discovery conference (9th ARDD). Dr. Hickson is the Director at the Center for Chromosome Stability, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, the University of Copenhagen.
Research in the Hickson laboratory has deciphered mechanisms for how genome instability can drive cancer development and has led to the development of novel therapeutic strategies to target difficult-to-treat cancers. While working in the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, he focused on the cancer predisposition disorder, Bloom’s syndrome, using it as a model to define the molecular basis of tumorigenesis.
After moving to the University of Copenhagen, amongst many discoveries, he identified a pathway named MiDAS, which questioned the long-held view that genome duplication can only take place in S-phase by revealing that DNA synthesis occurs in mitosis following replication stress. These findings have opened new therapeutic avenues for targeting cancer. In 2013/14, he received both an ERC Advanced Grant and a Center of Excellence grant from Danmarks Grundforskningsfond to establish the Center for Chromosome Stability (CCS). His record of achievement has been recognized by his election to prestigious learned societies, including The Academy of Medical Sciences (UK), E.M.B.O. and The Royal Society (UK).
The conference proceedings of the ARDD are commonly published in peer-reviewed journals with the talks openly available at www.agingpharma.org. Please review the conference proceedings for 2019, 2020 and 2021https://www.aging-us.com/article/203859/text .
“Aging is emerging as a druggable condition with multiple pharmaceuticals able to alter the pace of aging in model organisms. The ARDD brings together all levels of the field to discuss the most pressing obstacles in our attempt to find efficacious interventions and molecules to target aging. The 2022 conference is the best yet with top level speakers from around the globe. I’m extremely excited to be able to meet them in person at the University of Copenhagen in late summer.” said Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, MD, Ph.D., University of Copenhagen.
“Aging research is growing faster than ever on both academia and industry fronts. The ARDD meeting unites experts from different fields and backgrounds, sharing with us their latest groundbreaking research and developments. Our last ARDD meeting took place both offline and online, and it was a great success. I am particularly excited that being a part of the ARDD2022 meeting will provide an amazing opportunity for young scientists presenting their own work as well as meeting the experts in the field.” said Daniela Bakula, Ph.D., University of Copenhagen.
“Many credible biopharmaceutical companies are now prioritized aging research for early-stage discovery or therapeutic pipeline development. It is only logical to prioritize therapeutic targets that are important in both aging and age-associated diseases. The patient benefits either way. The best place to learn about these targets is ARDD, which we organize for nine years in a row. This conference is now the largest in the field and is not to be missed”, said Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine and Deep Longevity.
Building on the success of the ARDD conferences, the organizers developed the “Longevity Medicine” course series with some of the courses offered free of charge at Longevity.Degree covered in the recent Lanced Healthy Longevity paper titled Longevity medicine: upskilling the physicians of tomorrow.
About Aging Research for Drug Discovery Conference
At ARDD, leaders in the aging, longevity, and drug discovery field will describe the latest progress in the molecular, cellular and organismal basis of aging and the search for interventions. Furthermore, the meeting will include opinion leaders in AI to discuss the latest advances of this technology in the biopharmaceutical sector and how this can be applied to interventions. Notably, this year we are expanding with a workshop specifically for physicians where the leading-edge knowledge of clinical interventions for healthy longevity will be described. ARRD intends to bridge clinical, academic and commercial research and foster collaborations that will result in practical solutions to one of humanity's most challenging problems: aging. Our quest? To extend the healthy lifespan of everyone on the planet.
About Scheibye-Knudsen Lab
In the Scheibye-Knudsen lab we use in silico, in vitro and in vivo models to understand the cellular and organismal consequences of DNA damage with the aim of developing interventions. We have discovered that DNA damage leads to changes in certain metabolites and that replenishment of these molecules may alter the rate of aging in model organisms. These findings suggest that normal aging and age-associated diseases may be malleable to similar interventions. The hope is to develop interventions that will allow everyone to live healthier, happier and more productive lives.
About Deep Longevity
Deep Longevity has been acquired by Edurance RP (SEHK:0575.HK), a publicly-traded company. Deep Longevity is developing explainable artificial intelligence systems to track the rate of aging at the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, system, physiological, and psychological levels. It is also developing systems for the emerging field of longevity medicine enabling physicians to make better decisions on the interventions that may slow down, or reverse the aging processes. Deep Longevity developed Longevity as a Service (LaaS)© solution to integrate multiple deep biomarkers of aging dubbed "deep aging clocks" to provide a universal multifactorial measure of human biological age. Originally incubated by Insilico Medicine, Deep Longevity started its independent journey in 2020 after securing a round of funding from the most credible venture capitalists specializing in biotechnology, longevity, and artificial intelligence. ETP Ventures, Human Longevity and Performance Impact Venture Fund, BOLD Capital Partners, Longevity Vision Fund, LongeVC, co-founder of Oculus, Michael Antonov, and other expert AI and biotechnology investors supported the company. Deep Longevity established a research partnership with one of the most prominent longevity organizations, Human Longevity, Inc. to provide a range of aging clocks to the network of advanced physicians and researchers. https://longevity.ai/
About Endurance RP (SEHK:0575.HK)
Endurance RP is a diversified investment group based in Hong Kong currently holding various corporate and strategic investments focusing on the healthcare, wellness and life sciences sectors. The Group has a strong track record of investments and has returned approximately US$298 million to shareholders in the 21 years of financial reporting since its initial public offering. https://www.endurancerp.com/