Meet the Team
Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D.
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Dr. Aubrey de Grey is internationally recognised as the visionary biomedical gerontologist who devised the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence: a comprehensive set of methods to rejuvenate the human body, thereby preventing age-related ill health and mortality. He has co-founded multiple non-profit organizations – including Methuselah Foundation, SENS Research Foundation, and LEV Foundation – to enable and accelerate its development and clinical translation.
He received his BA in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Cambridge in 1985 and 2000, respectively. He is the author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging (1999), Ending Aging (2007), and a large number of academic papers.
Dr. de Grey is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association, and sits on the advisory boards of numerous scientific journals and research organizations. He is a prolific speaker who regularly presents at conferences and events world-wide.
President & Chief Science Officer
David Wood
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25 years professional experience pioneering the mobile computing and smartphone industries. Co-founded Symbian. Board director at Psion Software / Symbian 1996-2009. Technology Planning Lead at Accenture Mobility, 2010-2013. Other board roles include the Open Mobile Alliance, Humanity Plus, and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
Author or lead editor of 12 books about the future, including "Smartphones and Beyond", "The Abolition of Aging", "Sustainable Superabundance", "Vital Foresight", and "The Singularity Principles". Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Holds an MA in Maths (Cambridge) and an honorary Doctorate in Science (Westminster). Co-host of the London Futurists Podcast.
Executive Director
Caitlin Lewis
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Caitlin was introduced to Aubrey and the longevity field in 2017, when she joined SENS Research Foundation’s MitoSENS project to develop engineered mitochondrial genes for therapeutic allotopic expression. In 2021 Caitlin began working with research leads at SRF on the strategic development of nascent projects, efforts which laid the foundation for her broader role at LEVF – evaluating areas of progress and stagnation across the entire longevity field, identifying neglected therapeutic targets, formulating novel interventions, and facilitating their development.
Vice President of Research
Ben Zealley
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Ben has worked alongside Dr. de Grey since completing his studies in biochemistry and pathology at Trinity College, Cambridge (2007), holding previous roles at Methuselah Foundation and SENS Research Foundation, and served for over a decade as Assistant Editor/Deputy Editor of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research. Ben is a generalist whose interests cover the whole endeavour of treating and preventing human age-related disease, as well as an experienced systems administrator and full-stack web developer.
Director of Web Services & Content
Maximus Peto
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Maximus Peto is a researcher focused on the biology of aging and longevity. He has exhaustive experience screening the scientific literature about numerous topics in aging research. Since 2006, he has accumulated extensive knowledge about insulin sensitivity and risk factors for age-related diseases and mortality. Mr. Peto worked with many leading organizations in the field including SENS Research Foundation, Methuselah Foundation, Life Extension Foundation, Ichor Therapeutics, BioAge Labs, Age Reversal Network, and others.
Chief Science Monitor
Board of Directors
Gennady Stolyarov
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Gennady Stolyarov II is an actuary, independent philosophical essayist, science-fiction novelist, poet, amateur mathematician, composer, and Editor-in-Chief of The Rational Argumentator, a magazine championing the principles of reason, rights, and progress.
Mr. Stolyarov has been the Chairman of the U.S. Transhumanist Party since November 2016, aiming to put science, health, and technology at the forefront of American politics. He is also the Chief Executive and a founding member of the Nevada Transhumanist Party, and the Chairman of the Transhuman Club, the non-political affiliate organization of the U.S. Transhumanist Party.
Mr. Stolyarov regularly produces YouTube Videos discussing life extension, politics, philosophy, and related subjects and hosts the U.S. Transhumanist Party Virtual Enlightenment Salons, where he invites some of the world's leading thinkers to engage in wide-ranging, interdisciplinary conversations on these topics.
In December 2013, Mr. Stolyarov published Death is Wrong, an ambitious children’s book on life extension.
Mr. Stolyarov holds multiple professional insurance designations (FSA, ACAS, MAAA, CPCU, ARe, ARC, API, AIS, AIE, AIAF) and is the author of numerous actuarial study guides.
Board Member, Treasurer
David Wood
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25 years professional experience pioneering the mobile computing and smartphone industries. Co-founded Symbian. Board director at Psion Software / Symbian 1996-2009. Technology Planning Lead at Accenture Mobility, 2010-2013. Other board roles include the Open Mobile Alliance, Humanity Plus, and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
Author or lead editor of 12 books about the future, including "Smartphones and Beyond", "The Abolition of Aging", "Sustainable Superabundance", "Vital Foresight", and "The Singularity Principles". Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Holds an MA in Maths (Cambridge) and an honorary Doctorate in Science (Westminster). Co-host of the London Futurists Podcast.
Board Member, Executive Director
Daria Khaltourina
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Daria Khaltourina works in the field of public health research and advocacy, including the promotion of longevity research. She is currently working to advance biomedical R&D, especially in the treatment and prevention of aging pathologies, and is the coordinator of the Healthy Longevity direction of the Russian National Technological Initiative.
Daria was a driving force in the group of scientists responsible for the landmark recognition of aging as a causal factor for disease in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) of the World Health Organization (under XT9T, "Ageing-related") as well as the revision of the MG2A symptom code, formerly "Old age", to the more precise and actionable "Ageing associated decline in intrinsic capacity".
Board Member
Darren Reynolds
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Darren has a broad array of experience in regulatory, commercial, contract, accounting, trust and tax matters. He has been a British elected public official, has worked inside Downing Street for the British government, and was a trustee of SENS Foundation Europe.
He presently works in cancer research for the NHS in England and helps to provide oversight of LEVF's activities.
Board Member
Scientific Advisory Board
Maria A. Blasco
Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO)
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As a postdoctoral fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, Maria Blasco isolated one of the telomerase essential genes and generated the first telomerase deficient mouse model, which served to demonstrate the importance of telomere maintenance in cancer and age-related diseases. She joined the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in 2003 as Director of the Molecular Oncology Programme and Leader of the Telomeres and Telomerase Group; in June 2011, she was appointed overall Director of the CNIO. Blasco has published more than 250 papers in international journals and has an h-index of 81. Her achievements have been recognized by numerous awards, including Spain’s premier research honour – the Santiago Ramón y Cajal National Award – and the internationally renowned Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award.
Brian Kennedy
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Recognised internationally for his seminal work on the pathways that regulate longevity, Brian Kennedy served as President of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California from 2010-2016 before accepting a Distinguished Professorship at the National University of Singapore, where he directs the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme. His discoveries have included the first evidence linking sirtuins to the aging process, as well as demonstrating the importance of the mTOR pathway in lifespan and chronic disease. A particular focus of Kennedy’s current research is the development of better biomarkers of human aging processes, to enable faster and more effective validation of interventions targeting age-related ill health and disease.
National University of Singapore
Vera Gorbunova
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Vera Gorbunova has pioneered the use of comparative biology to study aging, identifying relationships between genomic stability – particularly the activity of DNA repair and tumour suppressor mechanisms – and species lifespan and body mass. Since 2008, Gorbunova has focused on unravelling the extraordinary cancer resistance of the long-lived naked mole-rat, including the identification of high molecular weight hyaluronan as the key tissue-level mediator of that protection, whilst also leading the $9.5m NIA Comparative Genomics of Longevity program in 2009-2014. She is an endowed Professor of Biology at the University of Rochester and co-director of the Rochester Aging Research Center.
University of Rochester
Marco Quarta
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Marco Quarta is a scientist, inventor and serial entrepreneur. After completing a PhD in neuroscience and post-doctoral training in Aging and Stem Cell Biology in the lab of Prof. Thomas Rando at Stanford University School of Medicine, he then directed at Stanford/VA Hospital Palo Alto a research team focused on translational research in the fields of aging and regenerative medicine. He has co-founded multiple companies including Rubedo Life Sciences, developing therapeutics to target pathological cells in aging, and Turn Biotechnologies, advancing transient epigenetic reprogramming techniques to “reset” cellular age. Quarta also serves as president of the non-profit Phaedon Institute, promoting cooperation and discussion among longevity industry stakeholders.
Phaedon Institute
Community and Policy Advisors
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Florida attorney Bernard Siegel is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Regenerative Medicine Foundation (RMF) and founder of the Healthspan Action Coalition (HSAC). Cancer survivor and patient advocate, Bernie helped forge a visionary advocacy movement - the foundation of the stem cell and regenerative medicine ecosystem. As a connector and influencer, his projects have sparked valuable collaborations worldwide.
He conceptualized, created and co-chaired twenty (20) World Stem Cell Summits, World Stem Cell Summit-Shanghai (2019), Equine World Stem Cell Summit (2016), three (3) Regenerative Medicine Capital Conferences and “Human Cloning in all its aspects” at the UN Headquarters (2004), and dozens of regional events.
He was one of the leaders of the original grassroots Stem Cell Action Network/Stem Cell Action Coalition, a founding director of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) industry group, a board member of the DC-based Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR), and served on the board of the massively successful California 2020 Proposition 14 ballot measure that authorized an additional $5.5 billion for research and clinical trial efforts. He presently co-chairs the advisory board of the DC-based Alliance for Cell Therapy NOW, promoting public policy efforts in Washington.
Way back in 2002, he filed the first court case relating to reproductive cloning and is widely credited for debunking the claim of the group claiming that they cloned the first baby. Bernie played a pivotal role in galvanizing a global movement that lobbied the UN to reject a treaty that called for a prohibition of SCNT - a form of stem cell research. His many media appearances include CBS Evening News, CNN, Fox & Friends, Canada AM, CNBC, CBS Morning Show, NPR’s “All Things Considered”.
Regenerative Medicine Foundation & Healthspan Action Coalition
Bernard Siegel
Melissa King
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Melissa King MBA, COO and Founding Board Member of the Healthspan Action Coalition, is a passionate advocate for patients of chronic illness and disease as well as the medical research that can help reduce their suffering.
Melissa served as a senior member of the campaign for California’s Proposition 71, which created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) with $3 billion in funding and the California stem cell program. Later, as Executive Director of Americans for Cures and Head of Field Operations for the Prop 14 campaign, she built and led the coalition that secured an additional $5.5 billion for CIRM.
Melissa played a central role in the formation of CIRM over its first seven years of existence, working hand-in-hand with the agency Chair and its founding Board to set the strategic vision for the agency, as well as developing the processes and policies by which CIRM still operates. Her contributions included guiding CIRM’s Board through its first 1500+ hours of public meetings, the sale of the first bonds to fund the agency, as well as the development and awarding of the first billion dollars in grants, including the Facilities Grant Program that leveraged $271 million of CIRM’s funds to attract $880 million in other support.
Melissa is now focused on the vision of longevity and improved healthspan for all. She works to support the continued success of the research, ensuring that access and affordability of treatments is fully addressed, and promote the need for more diversity in science, medical research and clinical trials.
Healthspan Action Coalition