The American Federation for Aging Research is hosting the 2010 Scientific Conference, "Rapamycin & mTOR Signaling in the Modulation of Healthspan & Lifespan: Potential and Problems", on October 4, 2010. Registration is free. See the website for more details.

Recent success in lifespan extension of mid- and late-age male and female mice by chronic treatments with the drug rapamycin could lead to a new era of pharmacological intervention for aging and age related diseases.

This conference will highlight the new and exciting discoveries in our understanding of the major metabolic pathways associated with the target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling and how these insights relate to the regulation of aging. In addition, the role(s) that TOR signaling plays in the major diseases related to aging and how preemptive intervention may lessen their burden will be a focus. TOR and associated signaling pathways in unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes are ripe for discoveries of new and better drug therapies. The conference will therefore explore the feasibility of clinical trials for aging intervention and/or disease prevention.

The conference will spotlight recent discoveries of next generation mammalian TOR inhibitors and delivery systems and address the questions: how can they best be used as tools to better understand aging and will they be better or worse than rapamycin as potential interventional approaches for the modulations of healthspan and lifespan?