This just started (at 11pm Pacific Standard Time/ California time). Day 1. Will be going on most of the day/night.
Details:
Program, Day 1
https://hevolution.com/en/program-day1
Program, Day 2
https://hevolution.com/en/program-day2
Fedichev has some really good points about how we now (only recently) with electronic medical records, genotyping, etc. - have more data on human biology than animals (for the first time) and AI can really help us understand what is going on with aging…
Talking about Rapamycin now… with Brian Kennedy
Wow - I have not seen this before. They have this conference being simultaneously translated and streamed in different languages:
Mandarin:
Arabic:
Spanish:
…
This is a well-done conference. If you can listen to the presentations, I recommend you do. Many great speakers, and presenters.
But I need to go to bed.
It seems to be on youtube:
Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZR3nHs6FZ9AoLU7gCRIjcZZwYPmUV0Bv
Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZR3nHs6FZ9Bwc09hn3FlRzeMy-foRWm7
I’ll watch (some of it) there later today
I don’t know if they will provide access to the videos later. But they are providing access to the live-streaming. Unfortunately its at night here in the Western US.
Did they fund any projects like Ora Biomedical or NIA ITP?
From what I know, Hevolution wanted to fund put money into research even 2 years ago, but they provided very low amount of money (something like 1% of promised money)
They’ve not announced funding for any specific drug development or lifespan testing projects, I don’t believe. They did announce this week at the conference a total of $250 million in project funding (some that will be spread out over many years - like the Xprize which will be a large chunk of the $100 million spread over 7 years). $21 million to the Buck Institute (not sure the period that is over). etc.
On an annual basis I suspect the total is still quite low - perhaps $50 million to $75 million, and a far cry from their $1 Billion per year that they say they will spend. To be honest most people are pretty disappointed with the slow pace of progress with Hevolution, but they are getting some good people so the hope is that they speed up soon.
Good science does tend to take time - but in general I’m not a fan at all of the slow pace I’ve seen so far. I think they should put the Impetus Grants team (which is funding new and good projects at a terrific, fast pace) in charge of the entire Hevolution fund to get things moving on a faster clip,.
It’s still active now (Thurs). I’m watching Joan Mannick on mTor inhibitors at 2 hours 16 mins into the video.
Fantastic news - yes you are correct. Both days are now up as recorded videos. I encourage people to now watch them when they have time!
Here are the two days in English. Just a short note - this is a rather strange conference in the sense that its not an academic conference, its not a business conference. It really seems to be a marketing tool for Hevolution to justify the entire endeavor to the Saudi, and world, populations. I’m sure with a price tag of $1 Billion/year there are segments of the population in Saudi Arabia who think this is a ridiculous boondoggle by MBS, so I suspect this was designed in part to allay those fears. Its sort of a two day advertisement on the state of the longevity science, and where its going. Its actually pretty good for this, and I think its worth watching it from that perspective. But I can’t say I’ve ever seen a conference like this in the past. They hired a leading journalist/News anchor from Saudi Television (a woman), and a top BBC news anchor (from the UK) to MC the entire event. Simultaneous translation into 4 languages (I assume all of these are also still up and viewable). It is all very well done… much more so than the typical conference. Which is also what makes it very watchable. Its clearly for a very broad audience. Perhaps your perceptions are different… let me know and post your thoughts below.
Day 1 here (Starting at around the 11 minute mark):
And Day 2 here (starting at around the 59 minute mark … its just “waiting time” before this):
I’m just listening to this part of the conference.
My god, who in their right mind invited David Gems to this conference.
Here you have the largest investment ever done in longevity, potentially a $billion a year by Hevolution Foundation, and David Gems jumps in and tells everyone that they’re making a massive mistake, that we don’t even understand the fundamental mechanisms of the biology of aging, and we need to do this before we can even considering to commercialize any ideas for mitigating aging…
I’ve got to believe there were some shocked people in the crowd when David Gems when on his anti-longevity translation/commercialization rant. And I suspect he won’t be invited to any more Hevolution Foundation conferences anytime soon.
That remark ‘No links to any companies’ ‘Nor am I looking for funding’, but Joan seems to have taken it well so it might’ve been in jest.
All of science requires experimental validation and testing, not theory alone. Testing will also help with theory.
Exactly. Biology isn’t like physics. We still don’t know the exact mechanism by which many drugs work, but they still work. Waiting until we understand Aging biology fully would be waiting forever.
I wouldn’t be surprised if physics were like biology. I realized this watching Oppenheimer where they did experimental validation as well, where even Oppenheimer was fooled and experimentation proved his theories wrong.
It seems to be a branch of physics as well:
Waiting forever because theorists usually are wrong.
Slowly they are moving forward with getting the money out to where it can do some good…
A writeup from an economist that attended the Hevolution conference:
Shaping a future of healthy ageing: reflections from the Global Healthspan Summit
Today, global average life expectancy stands at 73.4 years, marking almost a decade of progress since 2000.1 If this momentum persists, individuals born in this millennium can expect to celebrate their 100th birthday.2 Despite notable gains in life expectancy, the corresponding increase in healthspan—the years lived in good health—lags behind, with our later years often characterised by chronic illness and cognitive decline.
In November the inaugural Global Healthspan Summit, hosted by the Hevolution Foundation, took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, bringing together over 2,000 scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers and thought leaders to delve into pivotal questions confronting the future of ageing societies. Topics covered included the untapped opportunities of healthy ageing, as well as the emerging interventions, technology, policy changes and investments required for a future where we live long healthy lives.
Rebranding ageing as an opportunity
Ageing brings many stubborn prejudices and a persisting narrative of ageing as a social and economic burden. While breaking down some of these misconceptions, John R Beard, Irene Diamond professor and director of the International Longevity Center at Columbia University, shared the example of economic measures such as the old-age dependency ratio—a ratio of the number of older dependents to the working-age population—that reinforce negative perceptions and overlook the meaningful contributions of older adults in our society. In the US and Europe, older adults contribute an estimated 7% of GDP through paid work, volunteering and caregiving.3 The older population may also be an untapped force for economic stability and innovation. In the US, the number of entrepreneurs over 50 has doubled since 2007.4
Living longer may also force us to retire the word retirement. With a projected lifespan stretching towards the century mark, we can expect our working life to be extended by an additional 20-40 years. This will reframe how we think about education and work, embracing flexibility and lifelong learning. Reasons for staying in the workforce also go beyond economics. There is increasing evidence that working past retirement age reduces the risk of health problems such as heart disease and dementia while also providing mental stimulation and social engagement.5
Embracing older people as valued members of society requires dismantling negative stereotypes and shifting the public narrative about the benefits of longer lifespans to individuals, societies and the economy.
