more About the 2024 speakers

DR GHADA ALSALEH, Leader, UK Space Innovation Lab, Principal Investigator, Botnar Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford

Dr Ghada Alsaleh is a pharmacist as well as a scientific researcher with a focus on osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, autophagy and the immune system. She also established the United Kingdom's inaugural Space Innovation Lab at the Botnar Institute for Musculoskeletal Sciences. This pioneering initiative serves as a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration, aiming to advance cellular and molecular biology research within the realm of space exploration. Dr Ghada Alsaleh is a pharmacist as well as a scientific researcher, focusing on how controlling autophagy can intervene in biological aging and age-related diseases.

SIR CHRISTOPHER BALL, Academic, Poet & Former Warden of Keble College, University of Oxford

Sir Christopher Ball has been a university teacher, Warden of the University of Oxford's Keble College, Chancellor of the University of Derby; consultant and advisor on human learning and educational provision, a fundraiser for numerous charities, marathon runner (founder of the Lakeland ‘10 in 10 Challenge’), and poet (as John Elinger, his alter ego). He also Co-Founded the Oxford Longevity Project.

DR ROBIN CHOUDHURY, Oxford Heart Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford University

Professor Robin Choudhury is a consultant interventional cardiologist (honorary) at the Oxford Heart Centre and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (since 2005) and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Oxford University. He qualified in medicine at the University of Oxford with postgraduate training in London at Royal Brompton, Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals and in New York at Mount Sinai Medical Centre. His NHS clinical practice is in interventional and general cardiology. He has particular expertise in optimising cardiovascular risk factors. He is UK Chief Investigator for the ZEUS trial of the anti-interleukin-6 agent, ziltivekimab and leads the Novo Nordisk Foundation funded MeRIAD programme on metabolic influences in cardiovascular disease, an international collaboration between Oxford and Copenhagen Universities and the Karolinska Institute. He has published over 200 articles on aspects of cardiovascular disease.

SIR MUIR GRAY, How to Live Longer Better - the Oxford Elixir of Life

Sir Muir Gray began his career in the NHS in 1972 and since then has made an indelible mark on it, developing screening programmes in the NHS for pregnant women, children, adults and older people. He has published numerous books and articles and was the first to identify the 'fitness gap' in the British Medical Journal. Sir Muir has held a number of NHS regional and national roles, latterly as the NHS's Chief Knowledge Officer, and he was the principal expert adviser to the European Union in the production of their report on Value Based Healthcare in 2019. His mission, of 50 years, is how to help people live longer better. He has authored or co-authored the popular health books, Sod70! and Sod60!, Sod Sitting, Get Moving and Sod It, Eat Well! Sir Muir has developed a new model to help people Live Longer and Better. In his model, morbidity at the end of life is compressed and the incidence of dementia and frailty and, therefore, the need for social care is reduced.

DR SANDRA KAUFMANN, Anaesthesiologist, Author, The Kaufmann Protocol, Longevity Doctor, Miami

Dr Sandra Kaufman is a highly respected longevity doctor practising in Miami. She is well-known for creating the Kaufmann Protocol and writing two books, Why We Age and How to Stop It and Aging Solutions, which lay out 7 pathways down which humans age and the various molecules individuals can easily access now to slow or reverse this process. Kaufmann is a regular speaker at healthy ageing conferences in the United States and has been on numerous podcasts around healthspan.

NIKOLINA LAUC, Founder, GlycanAge, biological age testing company

Nikolina is the CEO and Co-founder of GlycanAge, a leading startup in the health-tech and longevity space who's technology was developed over 20 years of research supported by 40 million in European grant funding. Utilizing the largest proprietary dataset of human glycome, GlycanAge is pioneering advanced blood biomarkers for the prediction of age-related diseases. Recently raising a $3.7 million seed round, the company is endorsed by Hub71, Mubadala's accelerator program. Nikolina is a serial entrepreneur with proven experience in scaling startups and leading growing teams. A Draper University alumna and Foresight Institute fellow, last year Nikolina was also recognized as the Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 in Croatia.

PROFESSOR DENIS NOBLE, Systems Biologist & Emeritus Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford

Professor Denis Noble is a British biologist who held the Burdon Sanderson Chair of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford from 1984 to 2004 and was appointed Professor Emeritus and co-Director of Computational Physiology. The recipient of many distinguished academic awards and distinctions, he developed the first mathematical model of cardiac cells in 1960 and is a pioneer in systems biology.

DR SOVAN SARKAR, University of Birmingham

Dr Sovan Sarkar researches the physiological and therapeutic applications of autophagy, a vital cell survival process that removes and recycles cellular trash. He showed that autophagy promotes survival of brain cells via a metabolite called NAD, whereas defective autophagy–NAD axis contributes to neurodegeneration. He identified various mTOR-independent autophagy pathways and small molecules that are of biomedical relevance in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. He previously did PhD at University of Cambridge with Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and postdoctoral research at Whitehead Institute in MIT. He has over 75 publications with 30K citations, and 4 patents.

DR SASI SENGA, University of Oxford Neurosurgical Oncologist, Lecturer in Medicine, Author

Dr Senga argues that processes underlying cancer and aging share significant similarities. By targeting these shared pathways, it may be possible to reverse or slow down the effects of aging, such as wrinkles, while also mitigating the development of cancer. In addition to his research and writings about cancer, he runs a cancer foundation for the underprivileged in memory of his mother, Kalavathi. He is an Oxford Clarendon Scholar and a recipient of the Excellence Award/Top Honours Award from Harvard Medical School. He also holds two Master’s degrees and completed specialist training at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Barts Cancer Institute. He received a commendation from the Royal Society for his top-cited article, "Hallmarks of Cancer: The New Testament." He has authored several books, including an upcoming one on ageing. Additionally, he was involved in 'The Economist' Global Cancer Prevention Initiative and is exploring the use of quantum mechanics to decipher certain neurological riddles. He was also nominated for the VC Award for supporting medical students across the University of Oxford and serves as a visiting lecturer/course director at universities in the US and UK.