The Modesto Area Partners in Science will offer the free presentation “Aging and Chronic Disease –   A View from the Aging Side” by TEDx speaker Brian Kennedy, Ph.D., biologist, CEO and president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.  The free event is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Main Auditorium of the Performing and Media Arts Center on East Campus, at 435 College Avenue, Modesto. 

 Aging is the biggest risk factor for the growing prominence of major chronic diseases.  These include cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer.  If aging can be slowed, the effect would be simultaneous protection from many of the chronic diseases. 

Kennedy has an international reputation for his innovative work in the basic biology of aging. He became the Buck Institute’s second CEO in July 2010, coming from the University of Washington in Seattle where he served in the Department of Biochemistry. He has published more than 60 manuscripts in science journals including Cell, Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.