The 2005 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award
Media Seminar

WHEN: Friday, June 3, 2005, 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: The Wistar Institute,
                3601 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4268

Life is finite. Recent biomedical research, however, provides important new insights into the underlying mechanisms of aging and opens the intriguing possibility of developing life-extending therapies. Investigations into the molecular biology of aging also overlap with studies of diseases in which advancing age is a risk factor, cancer being perhaps the most prominent example. In this age of the human genome, what can science tell us about our mortality? On June 3 at The Wistar Institute, leading researchers who are exploring the process of aging in different ways will present overviews of their areas of research and provide briefings on the specific progress being made in their laboratories.

This educational seminar is designed specifically for journalists covering biomedical science, health, and medicine. Public information officers responsible for communicating scientific progress to the public are also invited to attend the seminar.

The media seminar will be presented in conjunction with the presentation of the 2005 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award, which will take place at a luncheon event during the day-long seminar. For more information about the award, please visit:

http://www.wistar.org/news_info/award_Page.html

For online information about the seminar and a printable registration form, please visit:

SPEAKERS AND SCHEDULE

8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Registration and refreshments

9:30 a.m
Welcoming Remarks
Russel E. Kaufman, M.D., President and CEO, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

9:40 a.m.
The Role of Telomeres in Aging
Harold C. Riethman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

The ends of chromosomes contain clues about how the body ages. These regions at the chromosome tips, called telomeres, are critical for cell division and the faithful passage of a DNA copy from a parent cell to its progeny. With every cell division, the telomeres become shorter until eventually the cell can no longer divide. This limit on cellular lifespan, termed the Hayflick limit, is believed to play an important role in determining human lifespan and how individuals age. Telomere length depends both upon traits inherited from parents and upon environmental influences - for example, several studies have shown that identical twins have more similar telomere lengths than unrelated individuals, and a recent study has shown that stress increases the rate at which telomeres are lost. The Riethman laboratory has cloned the DNA of telomeres along with large pieces of adjacent subtelomeric DNA in order to study how telomeres work. Their findings show that the subtelomeres are both gene-rich and highly variable from one individual to the next, characteristics that may provide insights into the inherited component of telomere length control.

10:30 a.m.
Insights into Premature Aging: The Biology of Werner Syndrome
Brad Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Werner syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the early onset of several features of aging. Although normal as children, people with Werner syndrome don't achieve a full growth spurt in adolescence and by 30 to 40 years of age begin to age prematurely. Aging characteristics include wrinkled skin, baldness, cataracts, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, muscular atrophy, and diabetes mellitus. People with Werner syndrome lack the function of a protein, called WRN, that helps maintain chromosome integrity. Recent findings indicate that telomeres - the ends of chromosomes, which are known to shorten with age - may be a particularly critical target of WRN. A better understanding of how WRN maintains telomeres may illuminate not only the search for treatments for the syndrome itself, but also the normal processes of aging.

11:20 a.m.
Refreshments break

11:40 a.m.
The Genetics of Maintaining Youthful Vigor:
Manipulating and Extending the "Healthspan" in C. elegans
Monica Driscoll, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ

Over the past several years, data generated on several fronts has converged to reveal that many biological mechanisms involved in age-related decline are highly conserved across the animal kingdom, from very simple organisms such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to more complex animals, including humans. This means that lessons derived from the study of simple organisms often extend to human biology. Extending longevity is a focus for much research in the aging field, and examples of the remarkable findings to date include genetic manipulations that enable experimental animals to live nearly seven times their normal lifespans. Nonetheless, a more important and possibly more realistic goal may be to maximize the human "healthspan" - the period of mid-life vigor that precedes senescence - enabling the individual to live a high-quality life for a longer period. The Driscoll laboratory has identified biomarkers of aging in C. elegans that enable evaluation and scoring of the youthfulness of an animal. These biomarkers are also being used to identify genetic or pharmacologic manipulations that might delay or accelerate senescent decline. Data from the laboratory suggest that certain single-gene mutations can markedly extend "healthspan." For example, experimental mutations that down-regulate an enzyme known as age-1 PI3 slow age-associated muscle decline, although they do not delay the appearance of certain other aging biomarkers. This finding is encouraging in terms of the search for potential therapeutics to extend youthfulness.

12:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Luncheon and Presentation of the
2005 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award
to Mr. Stephen S. Hall
Lower Egyptian Gallery, University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA

2:45 p.m.
The Search for Longevity Genes in Humans
Nir Barzilai, M.D., Director of the Institute for Aging Research and Professor of Medicine and Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY

The Longevity Genes Project, headed by Nir Barzilai, is an ongoing study of more than 300 Ashkenazi Jews with an average age of 98, their offspring, and age-matched controls from Ashkenazi families with average life spans. In 2003, project investigators reported that the blood of their long-lived subjects contained especially large lipoproteins particles, similar to those usually found only in young adults who are regular exercisers. The team then identified in this population of the very old a common mutation in the gene for a protein that raises the levels of HDL cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol, and increases the size of both HDL and its less desirable counterpart, LDL. More recently, the researchers discovered a gene variant directly associated with longer life. Centenarians and their family members were more likely than controls to have two copies of an altered ApoC-III gene, again resulting in larger HDL and LDL particles, as well as lower triglyceride levels, lower rates of hypertension and insulin resistance - and an average of four more years of life. Intriguingly, the gene's activity also links to another gene in a regulatory pathway that, when altered in C. elegans, can double the life span of that worm in the laboratory.

3:35 p.m.
Unraveling the Action of Sirtuin Proteins in Aging and Age-Related Disorders
Ronen Marmorstein, Ph.D., Professor, Gene Expression and Regulation Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Recent studies suggest that the process of aging is regulated in part by the action of proteins called sirtuins and that the manipulation of these proteins might extend lifespan and decelerate age-related diseases, such as cancer, type-II diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. A number of laboratories around the country are unraveling the molecular details of how the sirtuin proteins work, with the goal of designing small molecule compounds that might regulate their activities. Indeed, resveratrol, a molecule found in red wine and linked to many benefits in age-related disorders, has been shown to stimulate the activity of sirtuin proteins and to extend lifespan in model organisms. The Marmorstein laboratory is using a structural biology approach to visualize the sirtuin proteins in action and to use the derived information to aid in the design of novel small molecule compounds that might have therapeutic applications for the treatment of aging and other sirtuin-mediated disorders.

4:25 - 5:00 p.m.
Reception

REGISTRATION AND TRAVEL INFORMATION:

There is no cost for the 2005 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award Media Seminar. Advance registration is required, however. For a printable registration form, please visit:

http://www.wistar.org/news_info/award.html

The Wistar Institute is located at 3601 Spruce Street on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in an area of West Philadelphia known as University City.

Arriving by train:
All Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains and SEPTA regional rail trains stop at 30th Street Station, located at 30th and Market Streets. A metered cab to Wistar costs about $5, and the ride takes about 5 minutes. The walk from 30th Street Station to Wistar in about 15 minutes.

Arriving by air:
The SEPTA R1 regional rail line leaves the Philadelphia International Airport every 30 minutes and stops at University City Station, located on Convention Avenue at South Street. The fare is $5.50, and the ride takes approximately 20 minutes. From University City Station, Wistar is a 5-minute walk west on South Street which changes name to become Spruce Street. Metered cabs from the airport are also available, as are shuttles to major hotels near campus.

Driving:
From the Northeast:
Take the New Jersey Turnpike to exit 4 for Route 73 North. Proceed on Route 73 North to I-295 South. From I-295 South, take exit 26 of I-76 West. Cross over to Philadelphia via the Walt Whitman Bridge. This section of I-76 is also called the Schuylkill Expressway. Take exit 346A for South Street, and turn left onto South Street to enter campus. Note: Exit 346A is a LEFT LANE EXIT. South Street becomes Spruce Street and The Wistar Institute is located at the corner of 36th and Spruce streets.

From the Northeast Extension, Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-476):
Take the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension South to the PA Turnpike East-West Interchange. Remain on I-476 (The PA Turnpike, Northeast Extension portion of I-476 terminates at the East-West interchange). Continue on I-476 South approximately 3.6 miles to Exit 6, I-76 East (Schuylkill Expressway). Take I-76 East approximately 12.6 miles to Exit 346A, South Street, which EXITS ON THE LEFT. Turn right onto South Street to enter the campus. South Street becomes Spruce Street and The Wistar Institute is located at the corner of 36th and Spruce streets.

From the Northwest:
Take the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Exit 24, Valley Forge Interchange. Take I-76 East (Schuylkill Expressway) approximately 17 miles to Exit 346A, South Street, which EXITS ON THE LEFT. Turn right onto South Street to enter the campus. South Street becomes Spruce Street and The Wistar Institute is located at the corner of 36th and Spruce streets.

From the North:
Take I-95 South to I-676 Westbound toward Center City. On I-676 exit in less than two miles taking the "exit only" ramp towards the airport marked I-76 East. Proceed less than a mile to Exit 346A, South Street, which EXITS ON THE LEFT. Turn right onto South Street to enter the campus. South Street becomes Spruce Street and The Wistar Institute is located at the corner of 36th and Spruce streets.

From the South:
Take I-95 North to Exit 13 signed "291 West to I-76." Follow 291 West across the Platt Bridge to 26th Street, which leads directly onto I-76 West. Take I-76 West 3 miles to Exit 346A, South Street, which EXITS ON THE LEFT. Turn left onto South Street to enter the campus. South Street becomes Spruce Street and The Wistar Institute is located at the corner of 36th and Spruce streets.

Parking on Campus:
There are several public pay parking facilities around the campus. Metered on-street pay parking is also available.

Hotels:
Among the hotels near The Wistar Institute are:

The Inn at Penn
3600 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-222-0200

The Sheraton University City
36th and Chestnut St.
Philadelphia PA 19104
215-387-8000

Attendees may also wish to consider hotels located in Philadelphia’s downtown neighborhood, Center City; those near the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood are within walking distance of campus, and further east are hotels that can be reached by cab. Visit www.gophila.com for more information on Philadelphia hotels and attractions.

For More Information:
For further information about attending the seminar, please contact
Franklin Hoke at 215-898-3716 or hoke@wistar.org.