ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aviv Clinics, one of the most advanced brain research and medical clinics in the world, today announces the formation of a new Global Aging Consortium, bringing together several of the world’s leading researchers on aging to forge new paths designed to redefine what healthy aging really is.
The Consortium brings together the best and brightest who are producing some of the world’s most advanced research in genetics, epigenetics, epidemiology, immunology, pharmacology, neurology, nutrition and wellness.
The Global Aging Consortium consists of Dr. Michael Roizen, Dr. Nir Barzilai, Dr. Eric Verdin, Dr. Shai Efrati and Dr. Joseph Maroon. Their collective goal is to help people live longer, healthier, happier and more productive lives by focusing on disease prevention and maximizing pathways to health.
“Age-related cognitive and functional decline is the number one threat to Western society,” said Dr. Shai Efrati from Aviv Clinics. “We’re not simply focused on longevity; we want to slow down the aging process to fundamentally change how people age, as well as promoting lifestyle changes that are the most influential in impacting healthy aging.”
“This effort is part of a wave of researchers who are working together to target healthspan and aging to prevent diseases and not just treat them when they appear,” said Dr. Nir Barzilai. “Aging can be modulated, and even prevented.” *
Collectively, the Global Aging Consortium members have produced hundreds of research papers; they now want to put those findings into practice.
“Over the past 25 years we’ve seen a dramatic acceleration of our understanding of the aging process,” said Dr. Eric Verdin. “We’re now at a crucial transition period where we can take all of this knowledge and start deploying it in humans. We now have the potential to intervene directly in the human aging process.” *
Consortium member Dr. Joseph Maroon is proof of how this new science of aging can make a difference. As a neurosurgeon, he not only studies the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on cognition, performance, proteomics and telomere length, he utilizes the treatment to improve his own physical and cognitive performance. At 82, he’s improved his mental acuity, and as a competitive triathlete, he continues to win his age group in triathlons, placing first in the Chicago triathlon and second in the Senior Olympics this year.
“I know how achievable this is because I’ve lived it,” said Dr. Maroon. “I’m healthier, more content, and remain very productive in my 80’s as I was in my 50’s. As a group, and by example, we can accelerate the adoption of what we know works and make it available and accessible to everyone.”
A recent report from the McKinsey Health Institute states “the number of older adults will more than double to an estimated 1.6 billion by mid-century, marking one of the most profound demographic shifts in human history.” The report adds that while life expectancy has increased by 20 years since 1960, the average person will spend ten of those years in medium or poor health, impacting their ability to live fully.
“Living longer isn’t enough,” said David Globig, CEO of Aviv Clinics. “This Consortium wants to enable people to live better, healthier, happier, more productive lives, and I’m confident that their collaborative efforts will help make that happen sooner rather than later. We’re on the cusp of real change.”
Aviv Clinics in Central Florida will host the inaugural meeting of the Global Aging Consortium from November 30 to December 1.
Global Aging Consortium Inaugural Member Bios
Dr. Michael Roizen
Dr. Michael Roizen is an award-winning author and emeritus chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic, the first such position in a major healthcare institution in the United States. Dr. Roizen also served as the founding chair of the Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic from 2007 to 2017. He is a former chair of the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee and a former editor for six medical journals. Dr. Rozien’s work and development of his RealAge concept is critically acclaimed, leading him to author his first general-audience book, RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be?, based on work and making it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, as have three other of Dr Roizen’s books. Dr Rozien has authored more than 22 books, including his latest, The Great Age Reboot, and its accompanying app, Reboot Your Age, 195 peer reviewed publications, 100 medical chapters, and has been awarded 14 U.S. patents.
Dr. Nir Barzilai
Dr. Nir Barzilai is the director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Human Aging Research and of the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. Dr. Barzilai’s research interests are in the biology and genetics of aging, exceptional longevity and protection against age-related diseases.
Dr. Eric Verdin
Dr. Eric Verdin is the president and chief executive officer of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Dr. Verdin studies how metabolism, diet, and small molecules regulate the activity of HDACs and sirtuins, and thereby the aging process and its associated diseases, including Alzheimer’s. He has published more than 210 scientific papers and holds more than 15 patents. He is a highly cited scientist (top 1 percent) and has been recognized for his research with a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging and a senior scholarship from the Ellison Medical Foundation.
Dr. Joseph Maroon
Dr. Joseph Maroon is a former neurosurgeon serving as clinical professor and the vice chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery and a Heindl Scholar in Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is also the senior vice-president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. With a passion for sports medicine, Dr. Maroon has served as the neurosurgical consultant to professional and college athletes in football, baseball, golf, hockey and soccer and was team neurosurgeon to the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 40 years. He is also the medical director for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He has completed eight Ironman distance triathlons.
Dr. Shai Efrati
Dr. Shai Efrati is the co-founder and chair of Aviv Clinics’ Medical Advisory Board. He’s the founder and director of the world-leading Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center. His research focuses on novel aspects of hyperbaric medicine and brain rehabilitation. Most recently, Dr. Efrati initiated and headed a research team examining HBOT, and the effect on neuroplasticity and cognitive rehabilitation. The results of these preliminary trials indicated that HBOT indeed generates neuroplasticity and increases neurocognitive abilities in post-stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients. Dr. Efrati is a professor at the Sackler School of Medicine and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. Since 2008, he has served as chairman of the Israeli Society for Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine.
“Each of the members of the Global Aging Consortium has made tremendous discoveries that are changing the way we look at aging and improving people’s lives,” said Dr. Efrati. “Working collectively, I’m confident that we will develop advancements exponentially faster. I don’t think people realize how close we are to fundamentally improving the aging process.”
About Aviv Clinics
Aviv Clinics is the leader in the research and treatment of age-related cognitive and functional decline and novel applications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to maximize human performance. Based on an exclusive partnership with the world’s largest hyperbaric medicine and research facility, the Sagol Center at Shamir Medical Center in Israel, Aviv is introducing a global network of clinics delivering the most effective evidence-based treatment of the aging process – the Aviv Medical Program. The three-month regimen designed to improve the aging process in healthy adults was developed based on over a decade of research and more than 1,000 patients treated worldwide under the scientific leadership of Shai Efrati, M.D., Chair of Aviv Scientific’s Medical Advisory Board and Director of the Sagol Center.
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Cited from Globe Newswire