Keynote Speaker

Dr.  Steven Austad seeks to understand the biology of aging. His lab studies why different species age at differing rates. His lab also studies why the sex of animal impacts how the animal responds to aging treatments. His ultimate goal is to develop treatments to slow the aging process. 

From the University of Alabama personnel page:

"I am originally from Southern California, but as my family moved a lot I had lived in every part of the United States before heading to college. After gaining an English Literature degree, I had a variety of jobs — newspaper reporter, taxi driver, wild animal trainer.... Training lions for the movie business awakened my interest in biology, so I went back to school, eventually getting my Ph.D. in biology.

My early research was field-based. I have done field research in several parts of the United States, Venezuela, East Africa, Micronesia, and Papua New Guinea. Once I became interested in the biology of aging, my research became more laboratory oriented. Perhaps because of my background in English, I have always been eager to communicate the excitement of science to the public at large. In that capacity I have written popular books, planned museum exhibits, and produced a regular newspaper column on science. About 80 of those columns have now been collected into a book (To Err is Human, To Admit It is Not and Other Essays: Thoughts on Criminal Justice, Health, Holidays, Nature, and the Universe. 2022. Resource Publ. 266 pages)"

Interested in learning more about Dr. Austad's research? Learn more here: https://www.uab.edu/cas/biology/people/faculty/steven-n-austad