A Profile of Laura Deming, Thiel Foundation Fellowship Recipient

At Forbes, a profile of one of the Thiel Fellowship recipients who focuses on longevity science: "Deming started working in a research lab when she was 12, enrolled at MIT at age 14 and last month, the now 17 year-old was awarded one of 24 $100,000 Thiel Foundation Fellowships for her work in the realm of anti-aging, specifically efforts to identify the genes that control aging and to use discoveries about age-defying therapies effective in worms to unlock the key to extending the human lifespan ... I had a fantastic childhood. Growing up, I had complete freedom to investigate whatever I was interested in, so I puzzled around with math and science, and got hooked on biology. When I was 12, Cynthia Kenyon, one of the coolest people I know, let me come to her lab. She works with a wonderful little worm called C. elegans, so I got to spend the next few years peering down a microscope at the fascinating critters. Then I went to MIT. I'm leaving as a physics major after a whirlwind couple of years spent exploring the magical properties of the quantum realm. ... 'I'd been mulling over what to do after college. The optimal scenario I came up with was exactly what the 20 Under 20 program offers; an opportunity to spend two years working to extend the human healthspan.' She will take up her award in the fall and will initially focus on identifying promising anti-aging research projects that are close to commercialization."

Link: http://blogs.forbes.com/jmaureenhenderson/2011/06/20/meet-the-teen-who-got-paid-100-000-to-drop-out-of-school/

Comments

I have no expertise here but at 86 years I am interested. I am a bit skeptical at what seems to be your academic emphasis, and I'm more interested in actions than genetics. Extending the human healthspan more than the human lifespan. But this goes into what happens inside the head. How do we deal with depression while facing the inevitable? I doubt this will trigger anything, but you have an interesting project. (I seem to notice the rewrites are repetitive--oh, well)

Posted by: Jim Lindstrom at September 18th, 2012 6:40 PM
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