Singapore
Internationally recognized for my research in the basic biology of aging and as a visionary committed to translating research discoveries into new ways of delaying, detecting, preventing and treating human aging and associated diseases. From 2010 to 2016 I was the President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Continuing my passion for longevity, I'm currently the Director of the Centre for Healthy Longevity at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at National University Singapore. I also serve as a Distinguished Professor in Biochemistry and Physiology. The Centre seeks to demonstrate that ageing interventions can be successfully employed in humans to extend healthspan, the disease-free and highly functional period of life. Other goals include world class preclinical research to better understand the biology of ageing and community-based approached to improve health quality with ageing in Singapore. I have adjunct appointments at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at USC and the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington, where I served as a faculty member from 2001 to 2010. In addition, I'm actively involved with a number of Biotechnology companies, serving in consulting and Board capacities, as is Scientific Director of Affirmative Health. Also serving as a Co-Editor-In-Chief at Aging Cell. Finally, setting my footprint internationally I have been in China, where I was a Visiting Professor at the Aging Research Institute at Guangdong Medical College from 2009 to 2014.
A major focus of the Centre is to delay aging, prolonging disease-free life as well as maintaining high functionality and resilience. Our research aims to improve the quality of life for people as they age and reduce healthcare costs in Singapore with its ageing population. Maximum impact can be achieved by combining novel strategies to delay the onset of age-related conditions with effective clinical management in the elder population that maximizes life quality. The former strategy involves the development of interventions that exploit the pathways modulating human longevity and testing these interventions using newly identified biomarkers of human aging, as well as prevention of chronic disease onset. Once approaches are validated, the Centre will develop strategies for implementation in the Singapore population.
The Bia-Echo Asia Center for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (ACRLE) is dedicated to dismantling the biological constraints on women’s lives. By pioneering research into the science of reproductive aging, the Center seeks to expand the window of female fertility and unlock new insights into lifelong vitality. ACRLE’s visionary mission is to turn reproductive health into a catalyst for gender equality, empowering women with greater autonomy over their bodies, their families, and their futures.
The Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme (HLTRP) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore is a pioneering initiative dedicated to rewriting the narrative of human aging. Positioned at the intersection of cutting-edge science and clinical application, the program views aging as "the climate change of medical science", a challenge of global proportions that requires urgent, trailblazing solutions. By uniting a multidisciplinary team of world-class biologists, bioinformaticians, and clinicians, the HLTRP strives to move beyond simply treating age-related diseases. Its visionary mission is to extend the human healthspan, ensuring that our later years are defined by vitality rather than decline. Through transformative research into biomarkers, geroscience interventions, and personalized medicine, the program is leading the global shift toward a future where "healthy longevity" is a reality for everyone.
Research in the Kennedy lab is directed at understanding the biology of ageing and translating research discoveries into new ways of delaying, detecting, preventing and treating human ageing and associated diseases. We use multiple model organisms and systems for these purposes, including non-vertebrates, mammals, computational approaches, and clinical trials. Check out our lab webpage at https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/sites/briankennedylab/.
The Kennedy lab uses multiple animal models combined with human studies to understand the mechanisms driving biological aging and to develop interventions designed to extend healthspan and lifespan. Murine disease models and stem cell culture studies are also employed to define the underlying links between aging and the onset of chronic conditions. In yeast, large-scale genetic approaches are used to understand aging holistically in a single organism. In mammals, the lab focuses on validating conserved pathways identified using invertebrates and dissecting how those pathways interface in specific tissues with mechanisms driving aging. Finally, the lab works with drugs and small molecules that modulate aging, trying to understand their mechanisms of action and utility for human studies.