August 6, 2025

Taking the Measure of a Man – or Woman - Over Time

Physiologically, we are not the same person when we wake up in the morning as we were when we go to bed. Circadian rhythms matter and Dr. Yurkovich is leading an effort to understand how the complex systems that make up our body change throughout the day. (This may have an impact on things like when you should have surgery, for example!) Using an array of technologies and AI to capture an individuals’ data throughout multiple days, Dr. Yurkovich will explain what these tens of thousands of indicators could tell us about our health.

James Yurkovich, PhD

Dr. Yurkovich holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology from the University of California San Diego. During a career in biotech, he worked in systems biology focusing on understanding the healthy functioning and aging of the human musculoskeletal system. At Phenome Health, James spearheads new opportunities—technologies, computational methods, and collaborations—that bridge the gap between biology and technology. His interdisciplinary background spans mechanistic modeling, machine learning, network analysis, and dynamical systems theory.

September 3, 2025

How to Be Your Own Geriatrician

With a huge shortage of geriatricians, most older adults see general practitioners, who sometimes act is if treating a 77-year-old is the same as treating a 27-year-old. Dr. Newman, a practicing geriatrician, will give you tips on how to be the best advocate for your health. He’ll also suggest a pithy response for when your doctor asks, “What do you expect for someone your age?”

John Newman, MD, PhD

John Newman, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Buck Institute and in the Division of Geriatrics at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). His career goal is to translate our expanding understanding of aging biology to improve the care for, and help maintain the independence of, older adults. His research at the Buck centers on the molecular details of how diet and fasting regulate the genes and pathways that in turn control aging. 

Dr. Newman is also a geriatrician who cares for hospitalized older adults at UCSF focusing on preserving mobility and preventing delirium. He received his BS/MS from Yale University in molecular physics and biochemistry,  and completed an MD/PhD at the University of Washington. He then completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowship training in geriatric medicine at UCSF.

October 1, 2025

How Did Our Bodies End Up This Way?

We take a little detour off the beaten path today to explore what evolutionary biology can tell us about our bodies. By exploring the past and looking at different species, we can shed light on the present and future of our health. It will be an intriguing look at the mysteries of the body through an evolutionary lens.

Deena Emera, PhD

Dr. Emera is a Senior Scientist in the Center for Healthy Aging in Women at the Buck. She has a unique training and research background, with a bachelor’s from UC Berkeley in Integrative Biology and Middle Eastern Studies, a master’s from SFSU in Secondary Education, a master’s from NYU in Physical Anthropology, and a PhD from Yale in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Dr. Emera completed her postdoctoral fellowship in genetics at the Yale School of Medicine.  She has published academic articles on a range of topics, including on the evolution of the brain, hand, and uterus. Much of her research has focused on the evolution of female biology, which is the subject of her book “A Brief History of the Female Body: An Evolutionary Look at How and Why the Female Form Came to Be.”

November 5, 2025

How Close Are we to Real Treatments for Neurodegenerative Diseases?

Pharmaceutical companies have spent untold billions of dollars looking for cures for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Why have their efforts failed? What is the outlook for real disease-altering drugs, and what can we do to preserve our brain health in the meantime? Dr. Andersen will sort out where we stand in the quest.

Julie Andersen, PhD

Dr. Andersen received her PhD from the Department of Biological Chemistry in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She received additional research training in the Department of Neurogenetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Prior to arriving at the Buck Institute, Dr. Andersen held a faculty position in the School of Gerontology at USC.

Dr. Andersen has published more than 170 scientific papers and holds three current patents. She has been recognized for her research with a Parkinson’s Pioneer Award from the National Parkinson’s Foundation, a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, and a senior scholarship from the Ellison Medical Foundation.She has extensive experience working with both biotech companies and medical foundations, including Roche, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the National Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, and the American Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.

December 3, 2025

Personalized Medicine and Behavior Change

Advances in medicine mean we are getting closer and closer to our doctors being able to hand us a personalized treatment plan. In addition to drugs and supplements, such a plan would also suggest what we should – and shouldn’t – eat, and how much to exercise. Yet we know a lot of this already – and we’re still not doing it! Dr. Lovejoy brings her experience with behavioral coaching to give you tips on how to stick to your plan for optimizing your wellness.

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD

Dr. Lovejoy is a translational and behavioral scientist with deep experience in personalized medicine and behavior change.  She holds a BS in zoology from Duke University  and MS and PhD degrees in physiological psychology from Emory University, where she also did postdoctoral training in endocrinology and metabolism at its school of medicine. During her academic career, Dr. Lovejoy held the Manship Endowed Professorship in Diabetes at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University. She currently holds affiliate faculty appointments at the Institute for Systems Biology and Washington State University’s Elson S Floyd College of Medicine. More recently, Dr. Lovejoy has held senior executive roles in several health and wellness companies.

January 7, 2026

Out With the Old, In with the New

Dr. Hansen studies autophagy, which is a fancy word for your body’s built-in recycling system—it cleans out damaged or worn-out parts of your cells and turns them into fresh energy or building blocks for new cells. Think of it as cellular spring cleaning that keeps you healthy from the inside out. Scientists are excited about autophagy because it plays a key role in aging and diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease. Dr. Hansen will talk about how, by boosting this natural process, we might be able to slow aging and help people live longer, healthier lives.

Malene Hansen, PhD

Dr. Hansen was born and raised in Denmark and received her MSc and PhD from Copenhagen University. Moving to the US, she did her postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Professor Cynthia Kenyonat the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Hansen established her laboratory in 2007 at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, CA, studying molecular mechanisms of aging, and joined the Buck Institute in 2021 as Chief Scientific Officer and faculty member. Dr. Hansen has been recognized for her research throughout her career, including an Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award, a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, a Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research and a Breakthrough in Gerontology Award supported by the Ellison Medical Foundation and American Association for Aging Research (AFAR).

February 4, 2026

Advancements in the Prevention of Cognitive Decline

As we get older, many people face brain-related diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s which can seriously affect memory, movement, and overall quality of life. Dr. Ellerby is working to uncover what causes these conditions as we age—and more importantly, how to stop them. Using cutting-edge tools like stem cells made from patient samples, genetic analysis, and even gene editing (like CRISPR), she’s digging deep to understand what goes wrong in the brain and finding new ways to treat or prevent these diseases. 

Lisa Ellerby, PhD

Dr. Ellerby grew up in the Bay Area and received her PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She carried out her postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles.  Dr.Ellerby is a founding faculty member at the Buck Institute.

Dr. Ellerby has published more than 100 scientific papers and holds more than eight patents. She has served on the National Institutes of Health study group for over 15 years and also serves on review boards for numerous nonprofits, including the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, French National Research Agency, National Ataxia Foundation, and Hereditary Disease Foundation. She was an editorial board member of the Journal of Biological Sciences for 15 years and is currently an associate editor for the Journal of Huntington’s Disease. Dr. Ellerby has experience working with biotech companies and has been funded by companies such as BioMarin.

March 4, 2026

The Future of Research on Aging is Now

Seemingly every day brings a claim of a new miracle drug or treatment to help us live better longer. Which supplements should we take? Is a daily sauna a good thing, or how about a cold plunge? And how many steps are we supposed to get in again? Dr. Verdin will take the 30,000-foot view of all the advice and help us sort out what’s fact and what’s fiction.

Eric Verdin, MD

A native of Belgium, Dr. Verdin received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Liege and completed additional clinical and research training at Harvard Medical School. He has held faculty positions at the University of Brussels, the National Institutes of Health, the Picower Institute for Medical Research, and the Gladstone Institutes. Dr. Verdin is also currently a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco.

In 2016, Dr. Verdin established his lab at the Buck to study the relationship between aging and the immune system. He is an elected member of several scientific organizations including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He has published more than 270 scientific papers and holds 18 patents.

April 1, 2026

Taking Control of Your Health

Marin resident Dean Ornish is one of the pioneers of taking a lifestyle-driven approach to heart disease and other chronic diseases. Dr. Ornish’s lifestyle medicine program remains the only one ever scientifically proven in peer-reviewed randomized trials to prevent and often reverse the progression of heart disease. He’ll discuss how it may also improve cognition and function in early-stage Alzheimer’s patients.

Dean Ornish, MD

Dr. Ornish is the author of 6 books, all national bestsellers.  His TED.com talks have been viewed by over 4.5 million people.  The research that he and his colleagues conducted has been published in the leading medical journals.  Dr. Ornish was appointed by President Clinton to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and by President Obama to the White House Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health

The “Ornish diet” has been rated “#1 for Heart Health” by U.S. News & World Report every year since 2011. Among a host of award, Dr. Ornish has been honored as “one of the 125 most extraordinary University of Texas alumni in the past 125 years;” chosen by LIFE magazine as “one of the fifty most influential members of his generation;” and recognized by Forbes magazine as “one of the world’s seven most powerful teachers.”

May 6, 2026

Scientific Wellness to Unlock Longer, Healthier Lives

By combining big data, advanced AI, and deep biological insights, Dr. Price is uncovering how genetics, lifestyle, and environment interact over time to drive aging and disease. He is developing personalized tools—like “digital twins” and AI-powered health analyzers—that can simulate your unique biology and suggest tailored strategies to help you thrive.

Nathan Price, PhD

Dr. Price’s academic career includes previous positions as Professor and Associate Director of the Institute for Systems Biology, and Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He has authored over 210 peer-reviewed publications and delivered more than 250 talks and keynotes. Dr. Price is co-author with biotechnology pioneer Lee Hood of a 2023 bestselling book, The Age of Scientific Wellness, published by Harvard University Press. In 2019, he was named one of the 10 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine by the National Academy of Medicine, and in 2021 was appointed to the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.  

Dr. Price’s expertise extends beyond academia into the business world. He is also the Chief Scientific Officer of Thorne, a science-driven wellness company that serves approximately 5 million customers and 50,000 health-care practitioners. Previously he was Co-CEO of Onegevity, an AI health intelligence startup company that merged with Thorne. He received his BS in chemical engineering at BYU and his MS and PhD degrees in bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego.

June 3, 2026

So, When Will All These Breakthroughs Be in My Medicine Cabinet?

We’ve all heard “Schoolhouse Rock” explain how a bill becomes a law, but how does a scientific discovery become a drug? Spoiler alert: it’s a much longer and windier road than the legislative process. Remy Gross, a trained chemist who has overseen bringing 11 drugs to market (which have resulted in sales of over $180 billion), explains the fascinating journey and why only 1 out of every 5,000 drug candidates makes it across the finish line. He’ll also talk about how supplements are treated much differently, and what that may mean for you.

Remy Gross, III

Remy Gross started his career in the drug delivery and specialty pharmaceutical industry. He built the development, pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development and manufacturing at Shearwater Corporation as its VP, Operations, and then moved to President of Inhale Therapeutic Systems. Gross joined the Buck in 2005 and took the Technology Transfer office from having no licenses/partnerships to licensing out over 84% of its patent portfolio. He has advised and helped create multiple new biopharmaceutical startups at Buck, such as Unity Biotechnology (UBX), Aeovian Therapeutics (over 80M raised), BhB Therapeutics (over 40M raised) and multiple others.