Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center

University Seminar

Co-chaired by Jennifer Manly, Martin Picard and Kavita Sivaramakrishnan, "The Future of Aging Research" is the Columbia Aging Center's University Seminar that convenes researchers from across Columbia's three Manhattan campuses as well as from neighboring institutions.  Its purpose is to spur interdisciplinary approaches to novel aging research.

University Seminar 

The University Seminars of Columbia University are a time-honored tradition for interdisciplinarity. One of the unique opportunities to convene

Individuals watching presentation

Columbia's aging science community is our University Seminar #775 'The Future of Aging Research,' where members of the research community regularly gather to work together on problems that cross the boundaries between academic departments. The topic of aging is ideally suited to University Seminars' mission.  

In closed quarterly meetings, we convene our 50+ seminar members who are tenure-track academics from across Columbia University's three Manhattan campuses. The mission of The Future of Aging Research Seminar is to provide an interactive interdisciplinary forum for scientists to engage with one another, to generate new ideas and new methods, and to stimulate new approaches to the science of aging. The format emphasizes dynamic exchanges and dialogue, catalyzed by brief presentations of new work by CU/CUMC researchers. Discussions are sparked by leaders in complimentary areas spanning context, individual, and organismal/biological perspectives. 

A sampling of recent sessions: 

  • Inflammation and Aging (Philip de Jager) 
  • Environmental determinants of aging and neurodegeneration across the life course (Brandon Pearson & Gary Miller) 
  • Utilizing an activity-dependent tagging system to localize and manipulate engrams following natural aging (Christine Denny) 
  • Are there Relationships Between Patterns of Living and Patterns of Aging? (Ruth Finkelstein & Amanda Lehning) 
  • Widening Life-Span Differences between America’s Rich and Poor: Evidence of Aging Disparities from Social Security Files (Gary Burtless) 
  • New Data, Old Biases: Are Selection Processes Relevant for Health Disparities Research in the Precision Medicine Era (Maria Glymour & Julien Teitler) 
  • Research on Pathways to Aging Health Disparities: What are the Best Approaches? (José Luchsinger & Jennifer Manly)