Expanded Research Center set to accelerate transformative scientific breakthroughs.

Friday (23rd June 2023) saw the grand opening of SENS Research Foundation’s expanded Research Center.

Mayor Alison Hicks, Peter Katz, President of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, and Assemblymember Marc Berman officiated the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was followed by tours of the new cutting-edge facilities that afforded guests the opportunity to learn more about SENS Research Foundation’s current scientific programs and progress.

Visitors were able to meet the scientists, check out state-of-the-art workstations and receive direct insights into the important research being undertaken at SENS to combat aging. The event afforded longevity networking opportunities as well, as there were representatives from some of the Bay Area’s innovative biotech and longevity companies in attendance, and the SRF students were on hand to discuss the various Education Programs.

Longevity.Techology: When we write about extension, it’s usually pertaining to lifespan or healthspan, but in this case, it’s the welcome expansion of the SENS Research Foundation, which, having more than doubled in size since 2021 and quadrupled in size since its opening in 2010, seems to be developing its own ‘research facility’ version of Moore’s Law.

And SRF needs all the space it can get; the Foundation is all about damage, both limitation and repair, and it works to develop, promote and ensure widespread access to therapies that cure and prevent the diseases and disabilities of aging by comprehensively repairing the damage that builds up in our bodies over time. SRF seeks to redefine the way the world researches and treats age-related ill health, while at the same time also inspiring the next generation of biomedical scientists.

As part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, California State Assemblymember Marc Berman said: “I’m really honored to be here today and I want to extend my deep appreciation and support to SENS Leadership and Research teams for the revolutionary scientific work you’ve accomplished to better understand the causes of age-related diseases and damage associated with age. Your research and your findings in curing age-related diseases offer hope for a better future. As a representative in the California State Assembly, I’m excited to witness in real-time the transformative scientific breakthroughs the SENS Research Foundation will make.”

Maria Entraigues Abramson, Director of Development, SENS Research Foundation commented: “These labs are not built to work on perpetuating the futile triage of the diseases of aging; these labs and the dedicated staff exist to create comprehensive, fundamental, and enduring health, not just for those of us here but for everyone in the world.”

Entraigues Abramson went on to explain that because SRF is a nonprofit organization, there are both associated pros and cons.

“One of the pros is that we can work on things based on their possibility rather than their profitability, and the dividends earned are the lives, well-being, and happiness of everyone we can touch,” she said. “The challenge of being a non-profit is that we rely on awareness, generosity, and people of vision, like yourselves, and in this new field, these are qualities that are not yet abundant.”

SENS Research Foundation is located in Mountain View, California. Mountain View’s Mayor, Alison Hicks, was also part of the ceremony. She said that when she looked over the SRF website it felt like a letter to her family. “The work you do is highly relevant, I love your slogan, Reimagine Aging, and I want to thank you for choosing Mountain View as your home.”

Lisa Fabiny-Kiser, CEO of SENS Research Foundation, touched on the fact that SRF very much feels like a community, and is run with a community outlook, rather than being run by a single person.

“We’re not interested in creating therapies that are only going to be for the wealthy; we’re interested in making these therapies real, and so that they will impact everyone today,” she explained.

“My personal goal is to impact my parents, who are older and who are suffering from diseases of aging, I got into this field because of my grandmother, who died of Alzheimer’s; all of us up here have a personal story, like I’m sure all of you do about why aging is a disease that needs to be tackled.”

Among the attendees were:

Joe Betts-Lacroix, CEO, Retro Biosciences
Jennifer Haslip, Chief Marketing Officer, XPRIZE Foundation
Stephanie Dainow, Executive Director, Lifespan.io
Max More, Director of Communications, Biostasis Technologies 
Mikhail Batin, Co-Founder and CEO of Open Longevity
Rachel Howsmon, Development Manager, Northern California, Parkinson’s Foundation 
Natasha Vita-More, Executive Director, Humanity+
Dylan Livingston, Founder and CEO, The Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI)
Mark Hamalainen, Co-Executive Director, Longevity Biotech Fellowship
Matthew O’Connor, CEO of Scientific Affairs, Cyclarity Therapeutics
Alison Hicks, Mayor of Mountain View
Peter Katz, President of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
Marc Berman, California State Assemblymember 
Saul Miranda, District Representative