Media Advisory from

The Commonwealth Club

the nation’s premier public affairs forum

SPEAKER:    Chip Walter – Author of “Immortality, Inc: Renegade Science, Silicon Valley Billions, and the Quest to Live Forever”

Robert Hariri – Co Founder, Human Longevity, Inc.

Cynthia Kenyon – Vice President of Aging Research, Calico and Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Biophysics, UCSF

Aubrey de Grey – Chief Science Officer, SENS Research Foundation and Vice President of New Technology Discovery, AgeX Therapeutics Inc.

TITLE:           Immortality Inc: The Quest to Live Forever

DATE:            Thursday, January 30, 2020

TIME:            6:30 p.m. check in, 7:00 p.m. program; 8:00 p.m. book signing

PLACE:         Schultz Cultural Hall – Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto

PRICE:          $15 for members, $25 for non-members, students (with valid ID) $8 premium (includes a book and priority seating): $45 members and $55 non-members To buy tickets call (415) 597-6705, www.commonwealthclub.org

CONTACT:  Riki Rafner, Media/Public Relations Director (415) 597-6712

                 Media please RSVP to rrafner@commonwealthclub.org or kiwahashi@commonwealthclub.org

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Can we live forever? This group of renowned scientists and journalists will reveal the groundbreaking research and visionaries who are trying to answer that very question.  They will discuss rejuvenation, stem cell research, and the findings of others who are redefining our understanding of life, aging, and mortality.

Writer, journalist, National Geographic Explorer, documentary filmmaker, and author of Immortality, Inc.  Chip Walter will look at the stories, business and science formulated by a small group of scientists trying to curb aging. Walter has delivered lectures at Harvard Law School, Carnegie Mellon University, and Columbia School of Journalism on the gamut of topics.  He has been a frequent guest on radio shows and web programs including NPR’S “All Things Considered,” Michio Kaku’s podcast “Science Fantastic,” and Irish National Radio.  The former CNN Bureau Chief has written and produced a number of PBS science documentaries, worked as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University and partnered with UNICEF on the matter of childhood trauma. He has written about a variety of topics from the origins of kissing, to laughter, to human consciousness.  His pieces have been printed in National Geographic, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal.  Walter graduated from John Carroll University where he obtained his English Literature degree.

Dr. Robert Hariri is a surgeon, biomedical scientist, aviator and serial entrepreneur in two technology sectors, biomedicine and aerospace. He is the chairman, founder, and chief executive officer of Celularity, Inc., one of the world's leading human cellular therapeutics companies. Hariri has developed the use of stem cells to treat a variety of severe diseases.  With over 90 issued and pending patents, Dr. Hariri has authored over 100 published chapters, articles and abstracts while actively working as a member of the team to discover physiological activities of TNF (tumor necrosis factor). Dr. Hariri has also produced feature films and documentaries including “Crude Independence,” “My Mom’s New Boyfriend,” amongst others, working with Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas and Meg Ryan.  Dr. Hariri graduated from Columbia University and received his PhD from Cornell University.

Cynthia Kenyon, the director of the Hillblom Center for the Biology of Aging at UCSF,  is a molecular biologist and biogerontologist known for her genetic dissection of aging in a widely used model organism, the roundworm. Working closely with colleagues, Kenyon discovered that a single-gene mutation could double the lifespan of C. elegans, a small, free-living, nematode worm and is now applying that knowledge to other species.   Dr. Kenyon has received many honors and awards for her findings. She is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine and she is a past president of the Genetics Society of America. In 1999, she co-founded Elixir Pharmaceuticals in efforts to develop drugs to prolong the aging process. Kenyon has worked at the University of California, San Francisco for over 30 years and is recognized as the Herbert Boyer Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics.  She is also an American Cancer Society Professor. Cynthia Kenyon graduated valedictorian in chemistry and biochemistry from University of Georgia, receiving her PhD from MIT.

As the chief science officer of SENS Research foundation, Aubrey de Grey is able to practice his profession while expanding new therapies as VP of AgeX Therapeutics.  AgeX Therapeutics is an American biotechnology company progressing medical therapeutics related to human longevity.  He is also an international adjunct professor of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Specializing in the development of medical innovations, Aubrey de Grey focuses on those that can delay all forms of age-related ill-health. De Grey utilizes the active repair of the various types of molecular and cellular damage that causes age-related disease and disability, commonly referred to as rejuvenation. His work has been recognized by many news sources, including CBS “60 Minutes,” the BBC, The New York Times, Fortune Magazine, The Washington Post, and many more.  He is also editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging (1999) and co-author of Ending Aging (2007). De Grey holds degrees from the University of Cambridge.

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