David Stipp is a prominent science writer who has focused on medicine, science, and aging for decades for publications like The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Slate, Science, and more. The Alliance for Aging Research was very fortunate to have Stipp author a whitepaper–The Transformative Promise of Aging Science–to help launch our Healthspan Campaign earlier this year.
The Healthspan Campaign is helping to close the gap between promising basic research in geroscience and its clinical application. Scientists have made impressive progress in the understanding of human aging and now generally agree that aging is malleable and capable of being slowed–that it’s possible to make life at 80 feel more like life at 60. This opens the door for breakthroughs in fighting the single risk factor common to nearly every disease–aging itself. By better understanding this “common denominator” of aging, scientists could usher in a new era of preventative medicine. Yet the gap continues.
Stipp’s whitepaper sets the stage for the “momentous trend affecting the health of both our citizens and our economy”–the aging of the baby boomers. He spells out what a catastrophe it could be to continue on our current trajectory of aging and chronic disease that is already consuming a large share of our nation’s resources. But he also shows us how research into the processes of aging could lead to major gains in healthspan–leading to healthier lives and a healthier economy.
A recent piece from Stipp published in the journal Cell Cycle, is a compressed version of The Transformative Promise of Aging Science and is definitely worth a read. We are very grateful to Stipp for continuing to champion the ideas of the Healthspan Campaign and spread the word on how critical it is that we increase our support of aging research so that we can begin to realize its promise.