The 37 Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association (AAA) combined with the 22nd Meeting of the American College of Clinical Gerontology will be held in Boulder, Colorado, May 30 - June 2, 2008. The theme selected for the 2008 meeting is """"""""The Role of Genes, Environment and Chance in Determining Aging"""""""". The goal of this meeting is to assemble a group of scientists working in diverse areas of experimental gerontology to review and discuss recent developments in this field. The AAA meeting provides an excellent forum for presentation of recent advances in aging research, and it also represents a key mechanism for recruiting new students/faculty into aging. Based on the growing participation of past meetings, we anticipate that at least 325 scientists, clinicians, students and lay people will attend the 2008 meeting of the AAA. In the program for the meeting, we have assembled a variety of topics at the forefront of aging research to be presented. The aging process is most certainly multi-factorial and the approaches and directions highlighted in this program were chosen to reflect this. The program will consist of invited lectures arranged into three Plenary Sessions and ten major sessions held in a dual format, each consisting of three to four presentations and incorporating ample time for discussion. We will also include four sessions consisting of short platform presentations chosen from the abstracts submitted by registrants. Two poster sessions will also be included to allow registrants to participate directly in the meeting by presenting their data. Other key elements of the program include a session devoted to enhancement of graduate students' participation in gerontological research. In addition, for the third year, we will include a session that will be fully funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom to support presentation by the British Scientists at this meeting and to encourage cross-Atlantic collaboration. We are asking for funds to bring in 41 speakers for the central program of the meeting that will highlight the following key areas: neurogenesis in aging, turnover of extracellular matrix during aging, nutritional interventions, updates on aging research in canines, diseases of protein aggregation, hormesis, the role of exercise in the prevention of cardiac aging, and aging effects on the immune system. Special efforts will be devoted to encourage participation of underrepresented minorities. The meeting will be preceded by a Pre-Conference workshop, funded by outside sources, on """"""""Aging in Non-human Primates: Models, Progress & Future Directions"""""""", which will, as the title implies, cover a wide variety of topics associated with aging in non-human primate models. The annual meeting of the American Aging Association (AAA) serves an important public function by keeping the public informed about the progress of aging research and practical means of achieving a long and healthy life the progress of aging research and also by increasing the awareness and knowledge of gerontology among physicians and other members of the health team. By bringing together leading investigators working in the area of biology of aging, AAA provides a forum for critical discussion of recent developments and presentation of key findings from ongoing research. Therefore, this meeting is instrumental in helping to stimulate further progress in the field and in keeping investigators informed of the most recent developments and technologies in experimental gerontology. ? ? ?
