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Living Beyond 100

Many of today's children will live for a century or longer. Which factors will affect their longevity? Will they be happy, healthy and productive

Emerging science and medical technologies provide many clues regarding the future of aging, but changing demographics and economics have also begun to influence society's views. Beyond doubt, each of us will face new levels of scientific complexity in this new world. This Spring, the College of Science will present six free lectures on the effects of long life, addressing the opportunities and costs of the new longevity, the biology of aging, the effects of aging on the brain, regenerative medicine, the impact on global populations, and the increasing intimacy between informatics and the aged.

At Centennial Hall on the campus of the University of Arizona. Parking is available on a pay per use basis in the Tyndall Avenue Garage. All lectures begin at 7:00 PM and are free to the public. Call 520-621-4090 for more information.

Jan 24 2012
Can We, and What If We Do?

Shane C. Burgess, Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona
For most of human history, what we today consider a "reasonable life span" was a significant achievement for the average human. This remains the case in many parts of the world, but for westerners in particular, the magic age "100" is becoming a milestone to which many now realistically aspire. Our science has allowed us to immortalize cells and is giving us pointers to achieving much longer life spans. Medicine and nutrition are also making rapid progress, and in many cases what were terminal diseases are becoming treatable inconveniences. But if being alive well beyond 100 years is possible, is it really "living"? What if we haven't planned to live that long; can we afford it? How will so many older citizens change our society? So, can we live beyond 100? The increasing numbers of centenarians affirm that the answer is "yes," but what are these special people made of and how can we learn from them?

Can We, and What If We Do? 

Jan 31 2012
The Biology of Aging: Why Our Bodies Grow Old

Janko Nikolich-Zugich, Professor and Department Head of Immunobiology; Co-Director, Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona
All organisms age, but we really do not have a clear explanation how and why. Do we have to grow old? Can we identify processes that can impact aging of particular parts of our bodies or, even better, of our entire bodies? Where do we stand with anti-aging interventions? This lecture will address theories of aging, emphasizing those that show most potential promise. The incredible promise of research on aging to extend healthspan and lifespan will be contrasted with the vast and unregulated world of anti-aging supplements and with the incredibly small investment we are making in developing credible anti-aging interventions.

The Biology of Aging: Why Our Bodies Grow Old 

Feb 7 2012
The Aging of the Brain

Carol A. Barnes, Regents' Professor of Psychology and Neurology; Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona
One of the great frontiers of contemporary science is exploration of the mind. The brain embodies our individual identities as well as our ability to cooperate with others to understand the remaining mysteries of our universe. It is composed of billions of cells, the connections amongst which capture and preserve unique experiences. Over the past half-century, ideas about the aging brain have evolved away from it being an organ of passive deterioration towards the realization that it is capable of dynamic adaptation and high levels of function well past 100 years. One question remains — can we all achieve this?

The Aging of the Brain 

Feb 14 2012
Repair, Regeneration and Replacement Revisited

David G. Armstrong, Professor of Surgery and Director, Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA), University of Arizona
More than 250 years ago, the philosopher Auguste Comte suggested that "Demography is Destiny". It is this change in demography that is leading toward that destiny: nothing less than a transformation of medicine and our collective relationship with it. From advances in composite tissue transplantation to stem cells to bionic human-machine interfaces, we are experiencing a present-day revolution in replacement parts. As these advances merge with similar progress in consumer and medical devices, the aging individual will be forced to ask the question: What of us will remain innately "us"?

Repair, Regeneration and Replacement Revisited 

Feb 21 2012
Society, Geographic Change and the New Longevity

Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr., Associate Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Professor of Geography and Development, University of Arizona
Data demonstrate that the world's human population is getting older as life expectancy continues to increase globally. Much of this increase is taking place in the so-called developing world. Despite these trends, there remains tremendous variability in the geography of life expectancy. There are in fact points in time and place where life expectancies have dropped or will drop in the future. We are just beginning to understand, what the 'new longevity' means for society as we adapt our social welfare systems to the changing demographics of our aging populations. Where will our aging populations live? Who will care for them? How are the roles of older populations changing? Aging will continue to present new challenges as our global population reaches toward 9 billion over the next 40 years. To better respond to the needs of our world's changing demographic distributions, it is critical that we understand the nature of aging at both global and local scales today.

Society, Geographic Change and the New Longevity 

Feb 28 2012
Information and Immortality

Paul R. Cohen, Director of the School of Information: Science, Technology and Arts, University of Arizona

Information and immortality have always been related by the idea that we are survived by the stories told about us. The Information Age provides increasingly sophisticated tools to create and tell these stories, but of course the relationship between information and immortality encompasses more: robotic elder care, uploading oneself to the Web, and the likelihood that in future, one will have biological and computational parts and entirely computational friends. All of which raises the question, what do we want informatics to do for us as we age? Where is the line between assisting and supplanting? This is not a new question: Anyone who sits for a portrait knows that the likeness might survive, and eventually become, the sitter. Informatics will eventually merge one's self and one's likeness into bio-robotic complexes of parts and information, maintained by corporations and governments. Then the relationship between information and immortality will be more complicated than ever.

Information and Immortality 

Lectures will be held at Centennial Hall on the campus of the University of Arizona.
View map to Centennial Hall

Parking
Parking is available in the Tyndall Avenue Garage.
View map to Tyndall Avenue Garage

Time and Cost
All lectures begin at 7 PM and are free to the public.

For More Information
Please call 520.621.4090

Course Overview
ECOL 596s is structured as a 2-unit graduate course with discussion, lecture and activities on the teaching of science in a high school classroom. The course is focused around an evening speaker series offered through the College of Science.

Teacher-participants meet once a week for three hours in the evening. In the first hour the class participates in an activity for teaching science in a high school science classroom or a presentation on a K–12 outreach opportunity at the UA. In the second hour the class attends the College of Science Living Beyond 100 lecture. The third hour consists of discussion of the lecture and its application to the high school classroom.

This course is structured for science teachers at the 6–12 grade level, but K–12 teachers at all levels are invited to participate. Pre-service teachers who are not yet certified may also take the course and earn undergraduate credit. Teachers earn two units of graduate credit.

For More Information
Contact Carol Paddock
cpaddock@email.arizona.edu
520-626-5578

To Register
Contact Continuing Education and Academic Outreach
520-621-7724
Enrollment is limited.

Tuition and Fees
100% tuition (two units) is paid by the College of Science through funding provided by Research Corporation for Science Advancement and Tucson GEAR UP Project.

Location and Time
Class location will be announced. Classes run from 6:00-9:00 pm each Tuesday evening from January 17 to March 6. Parking is available in the Tyndall Avenue Garage.
View map to Tyndall Avenue Garage

Educator Series

Tuesday, January 17
Introduction Class
Attendance is mandatory.

Tuesday, January 24
Can We, and What If We Do?
Shane C. Burgess, Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona

Tuesday, January 31
The Biology of Aging: Why Our Bodies Grow Old
Janko Nikolich-Zugich, Professor and Department Head of Immunobiology; Co-Director, UA Center on Aging, The University of Arizona

Tuesday, February 7
The Aging of the Brain
Carol A. Barnes, Regents' Professor of Psychology and Neurology; Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, The University of Arizona

Tuesday, February 14
Repair, Regeneration and Replacement Revisited
David G. Armstrong, Professor of Surgery and Director, Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA), University of Arizona

Tuesday, February 21
Society, Geographic Change and the New Longevity
Vincent J. Del Casino, Associate Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Professor of Geography and Development, The University of Arizona

Tuesday, February 28
Information and Immortality
Paul R. Cohen, Director of the School of Information: Science, Technology and Arts, The University of Arizona

Tuesday, March 6
Final Class
Details to be announced.