Craig Venter
Founder, Chairman, and President of the J. Craig Venter Institute

Theme: Life

J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his invaluable contributions to genomic research. He is Founder, Chairman, and President of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit, research organization with more than 400 scientist and staff dedicated to human, microbial, plant, synthetic, and environmental genomic research, as well as the exploration of social and ethical issues in genomics. He is also founder and CEO of Synthetic Genomics Inc., a privately held company dedicated to developing and commercializing synthetic genomic advances. The company is currently focused on solving pressing societal needs such as producing new alternative energies and biochemicals.

After a tour of duty as a Navy Corpsman in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968, Dr. Venter earned both a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California at San Diego. After leaving UCSD, he was appointed professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.  In 1984, he moved to the National Institutes of Health campus where he developed Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs,) a revolutionary new strategy for rapid gene discovery.  In 1992 Dr. Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), a not-for-profit research institute, where in 1995 he and his team decoded the genome of the first free-living organism, the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae, using his new whole genome shotgun technique.

In 1998, Dr. Venter founded Celera Genomics to sequence the human genome with his new techniques.  This research culminated with the February 2001 publication of the human genome in the journal, Science. He and his team there also sequenced the fruit fly, mouse and rat genomes.  In 2002 after leaving Celera Dr. Venter and his team at the Venter Institute continued their ground breaking work in various areas of genomics. He and his teams continue to blaze new trails in genomics research and have published more than 50 genomes and numerous important papers covering such areas as environmental genomics, synthetic genomics and the first complete diploid genome.

Aubrey de Grey
Methuselah Foundation

Theme: Life

Dr. Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist based in Cambridge, UK, and is the Chairman and Chief Science Officer of the Methuselah Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity dedicated to combating the aging process. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Rejuvenation Research, the world's only peer-reviewed journal focused on intervention in aging.

His research interests encompass the causes of all the accumulating and eventually pathogenic molceular and cellular side-effects of metabolism ("damage") that constitute mammalian aging and
the design of interventions to repair and/or obviate that damage. He has developed a possibly comprehensive plan for such repair, termed Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS), which breaks the aging problem down into seven major classes of damage and identifies detailed approaches to addressing each one.

A key aspect of SENS is that it can potentially extend healthy lifespan without limit, even though these repair processes will probably never be perfect, as the repair only needs to approach perfection rapidly enough to keep the overall level of damage below pathogenic levels. Dr. de Grey has termed this required rate of improvement of repair therapies "longevity escape velocity".

Susan Greenfield CBE
Director, Royal Institution of Great Britain

Theme: Life

Baroness Greenfield is Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (the first woman to hold that position) and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, where she leads a multi-disciplinary team investigating neurodegenerative disorders.  In addition she is Director of the Oxford Centre for the Science of the Mind, exploring the physical basis of consciousness.

Her books include "The Human Brain: A Guided Tour" (1997), "The Private Life of the Brain" (2000), and "Tomorrow's People: How 21^st Century Technology Is Changing the Way We Think and Feel" (2003) and "‘ID' - The Quest for Identity" is due to be published in May 2008 by Hodder Publishing.  She has spun off four companies from her research, made a diverse contribution to print and broadcast media, and led a Government report on "Women In Science".  She has received 29 Honorary Degrees, Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (2000), a non-political Life Peerage (2001) as well as the Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur (2003).  In 2006 she was installed as Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University and voted `Honorary Australian of the Year'.  .  In 2007 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.     

Sir Brian Heap CBE
Research Associate at the Capability and Sustainability Centre, St Edmund's College, Cambridge

Theme: Life

Brian Heap is Research Associate at the Capability and Sustainability Centre, St Edmund's College, Cambridge.  He is also Special Professor at the University of Nottingham, Honorary Fellow at St Edmund's College Cambridge and Green College Oxford,  Principle Scientific Adviser of ZyGEM Co Ltd New Zealand, President of the International Society of Science and Religion, Vice-President of European Academies Science Advisory Council, Chair of Academia Europaea Trustees, the phg Foundation Cambridge, and the Advisory Board of the Faraday Institute at St Edmund's College, Board member of Sense about Science and the African Technology Policy Studies Network, co-Director of Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowships Programme in Science and Religion, Deputy Chair of the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts, and trustee of various other organizations. 

He holds doctorates from the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge, and has published widely in endocrine physiology, biotechnology, sustainable consumption and production, and science advice and policy issues. 

He was Master of St Edmund's College, Cambridge, Vice-President and Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, Director of Research at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Direcotr of the Babraham Institute Cambridge, President of the Institute of Biology, UK Representative on the NATO Science Committee and European Science Foundation, Chair of the Cambridge Genetics Knowledge Park, Advisory Board member of the Templeton Foundation USA, and a judge of the Templeton Prize. 

Sir Brian was Editor of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences), served on the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Department of Health's Expert Group on Cloning, and has worked on developing country issues particularly in China with the World Health Organisation.  He was scientific consultant for Merck, Sharp and Dohme, New Jersey, Johnson and Johnson, New Jersey, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, San Diego.  

Alex Kalache
Senior Advisor to the President on Global Ageing at The New York Academy of Medicine.

Theme: Life

Alexandre Kalache is a medical doctor, originally from Brazil , who studied for his MSc degree (Social Medicine) and PhD degree (Cancer Epidemiology) in England.

Since 1995 he has acted as the Head of the Ageing and Life Course Programme (ALC) at the World Health Organization. ALC activities are designed to advance the state of knowledge about health care in older age and gerontology through dissemination of information, training and research efforts. ALC special focus is on the development of policies reflecting the 'WHO Active Ageing framework.'

In 2008 Alex Kalache, PhD, was appointed Senior Advisor to the President on Global Ageing at The New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Kalache represents NYAM on aging issues, is establishing and enhancing international links, co-directing specific projects adopting age-friendly approaches and is supporting NYAM's efforts in mainstreaming aging throughout its divisions to ensure the most collaborative efforts on this important issue.

Dr. Kalache has appeared recently in Este Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people and was featured on BBC World America featuring ageing issues on a global scale. Previously, Dr. Kalache served as founder and head of the Epidemiology of Aging Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where from 1984 to 1995 he launched a series of international short courses on the implications for Public Health of Population Aging. These courses were replicated by several countries resulting in the establishment of a global network of researchers under his coordination. While at the LSHTM, Dr. Kalache was also responsible for setting up the first European Masters of Science course on Health Promotion. The framework adopted for this initiative was used as a base for the development of the WHO Program under his direction firmly centered on a healthy aging/life course perspective.

Alex Kalache, PhD, former Head of the Ageing and Life Course Programs at the World Health Organization (WHO), has been appointed Senior Advisor to the President on Global Ageing at The New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Kalache represents NYAM on aging issues, is establishing and enhancing international links, co-directing specific projects adopting age-friendly approaches and is supporting NYAM's efforts in mainstreaming aging throughout its divisions to ensure the most collaborative efforts on this important issue.

Dr. Kalache has appeared recently in Este Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people and was featured on BBC World America featuring ageing issues on a global scale. Previously, Dr. Kalache served as founder and head of the Epidemiology of Aging Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where from 1984 to 1995 he launched a series of international short courses on the implications for Public Health of Population Aging. These courses were replicated by several countries resulting in the establishment of a global network of researchers under his coordination. While at the LSHTM, Dr. Kalache was also responsible for setting up the first European Masters of Science course on Health Promotion. The framework adopted for this initiative was used as a base for the development of the WHO Program under his direction firmly centered on a healthy aging/life course perspective.

Richard Cotton
Genomic Disorders Research Centre, Melbourne

Theme: Life

Prof Cotton has written two books entitled "Mutation Detection", initiated the journal entitled "Human Mutation". In 1996 he started a worldwide initiative (The HUGO Mutation Detection Database Initiative, recently formed into the Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS); www.hgvs.org) to capture and distribute lists of mutations.

In June 2006, co-sponsored by WHO, he initiated the Human Variome Project (www.humanvariomeproject.org). This project aims to collect worldwide genetic variation and its associated phenotype. He is Treasurer of the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) and the author of over 200 scientific papers and three patents.

Mary Archer
Scientist and Chair, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Theme: Life

Baroness Archer taught chemistry in the University of Cambridge for ten years before developing a wider portfolio of interests. She became a non-executive director of Addenbrooke's NHS Trust in 1993, vice chairman of the Trust in 1999 and chairman in 2002. She also chairs the East of England Stem Cell Network and is a trustee of the UK Stem Cell Foundation.

Sylvain Lehmann
Head of the Department of Celular and Molecular Pathology, CNRS Institute of Human Genetics

Theme: Life

Prof. Sylvain Lehmann, was trained as an M.D. and a Ph.D. He was the recipient of a Howard Hughes fellowship for physician and spent four years in Washington University, School of Medicine, St. Louis MO, USA. His initial training was in molecular and cellular biology and he became interest in clinical biology and cell therapy through its position as a Professor of Biochemistry at the Medical School of Montpellier, France.

His clinical laboratory is working in the biobanking and proteomics fields, looking at biomarkers for the diagnosis and follow up of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. This area of clinical research is of major importance as currently more than 5.7 million Europeans suffer from neurodegenerative disorders. Due to the ageing population in the industrial world, this number is expected to increase forming one of the major public health and medical challenges of the upcoming century. Incidentally, no curative therapies are yet available for neurodegenerative disorders, and an other focus of Prof Lehmann's research is on gene and cell therapy applied these diseases. Hence, his laboratory carries out pre-clinical programs using embryonic and neural stem cells with the ultimate goal to replace damaged neuronal cells and to deliver therapeutic molecules intracerebrally.

Jurgen Borlak
Director, Fraunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Experimental Medicine

Theme: Life

Professor Jurgen Borlak is Director of Fraunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Experimental Medicine in Germany. In future, drugs will become even safer and have fewer side effects. In addition, thanks to studies on the genetic variability of a patient, we will be able to predict certain side effects with a high degree of accuracy. In the long run, this will facilitate personalized drug therapy.

Edward Abrahams
Executuve Director, Personalized Medicine Coalition,

Theme: Life

Edward Abrahams, Executive Director of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, a non-profit educational and advocacy group representing diverse members withan interest in advancing medical progress th rough the adoption of personalized medicine concepts and products, brings extensive experience in industry, academia,and government to the position. As former Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association, Dr. Abrahams managed all aspects of the Association, including public advocacy, media relations, and educational programs, tripling its size and revenues in three years. He also spearheaded the successful effort that led to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's investment of $200 million to commercializebiotechnology in that state.

Previously, Dr. Abrahams had been Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, and also held a senior administrative position at Brown University. Before becoming a university administrator, Dr. Abrahams worked seven years for the United States Congress, including as a legislative assistant to Senator Lloyd Bentsen and as an economist for the Joint Economic Committee under the chairmanship of Congressman Lee Hamilton