The American Aging Association has named Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Holly Van Remmen, Ph.D., as its president for 2023-24.
Formed in 1970 and known by the acronym AGE, the association is an organization of scientists and clinicians with goals including promoting research aimed at slowing the aging process and informing the public about practical ways to achieve long, healthy lives.
At OMRF, Van Remmen leads the Aging and Metabolism Research Program and holds the G.T. Blankenship Chair in Aging Research. Her lab studies muscle loss in aging and motor neuron deterioration associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She joined AGE more than two decades ago and served as its president from 2006-07.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by my peers in this way,” said Van Remmen, who joined OMRF in 2013 from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “The association has been instrumental in shaping my career since I attended my first AGE conference as a postdoctoral researcher in 1994.”
In addition to her position at OMRF, Van Remmen also is co-director of the Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center on Aging, one of only eight in the U.S. It is a collaboration between OMRF, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center to study how aging impacts disease and how changes that occur in aging predispose people to disease.
The center awards pilot grants, primarily to junior researchers, allowing them to further their investigations and apply for larger grants. On Nov. 1, it will award its next batch of awards, each ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.
Like the Shock Center, Van Remmen said a central goal of AGE is to support younger researchers. “Close to half of our members have recently completed their doctorate or are graduate students. Fostering opportunities for their career advancement improves the field of geroscience, which impacts people everywhere,” she said.
OUHSC scientist Arlan Richardson, Ph.D., who was Van Remmen’s mentor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, said this commitment to the next generation of researchers is unsurprising.
“Dr. Van Remmen’s dedication to scientific collaboration has put Oklahoma on the map for aging research,” Richardson said. “She is one of the leading researchers in geroscience, and her leadership will impact the field for many years.”
