The 2023 Seno-Therapeutics Summit
An undergraduate’s first longevity conference experience
Just about everyone in academia has attended a conference. We all look forward to hearing from prominent speakers, chatting with colleagues, and glossing over posters. It doesn’t hurt that there’s often a delicious meal or two accompanying the whole thing as well. All ghrelin-induced comments aside, conferences really are a culmination of some of the latest and greatest work in a field and for a senescence junkie like myself, attending the 1st annual Phaedon Institute’s 2023 Seno-Therapeutics Summit was a dream come true. Why not document my experience?
Part 1: The Grand-ish Entrance
It’s 9 AM and I stumble into the venue bleary eyed having woken up with a less little sleep than what I find comfortable. But after a 2 hour drive with my colleagues at Rubedo, I was excited to finally attend my first longevity-related conference and what better place than the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. A home to giants in the aging field such as Judith Campisi, Gordon Lithgow, and Simon Melov, I couldn’t help but feel in awe of being at the world’s first research institution dedicated to research on aging. I greet some of the staff, pick up my welcome bag, and immediately look for one thing: coffee. I don’t frequently dip my toes into the pool of sweet caffeine bliss but there’s a long day ahead and I want to be alert and savour it all. I quickly chow down a croissant and head into the auditorium just as the opening statements are being finished and Dr. Peter Adams was beginning his talk. I rummage through the welcome bag, find my Phaedon Institute pen and notebook, and take a seat. I’m ready.
Now, going through every single speaker and presentation would be like writing my thesis and then some so I’ve just jotted down some of what I learned across the two days. Enjoy!
Part 2: Some Key Points
Takeaways From Basic Biology
Cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) and cyclin D1 are needed for cytoplasmic chromatin fragment accumulation which results in STING activation.
Certain cell cycle proteins are required for SASP but not cell cycle arrest and vice versa.
Insufficient ATP regulation and degradation leads to SASP production.
Senescent cells have increased endoplasmic reticulum biogenesis and this is linked to SASP accumulation.
Further research needs to be done on the secretion of proteins that help cells avoid apoptosis
With age, gut bacteria may promote senescence in certain cell types
The same cell line under the same senescence induction method may have different subsets of cells appear in culture which vary in sensitivity to different drugs
The extracellular vesicles from different methods of senescence induction will vary
miRNAs can act as a senolytic and may also be useful in distinguishing one subset of senescent cells from another
Each organ has its own aging trajectory. Each cell type has its own aging trajectory within an organ.
Deep learning can help distinguish senescent cells from proliferating cells via analysis of nuclear morphology
Takeaways from Pharmaceutical Round Table
I did not find the pharmaceutical round table as interesting as the basic biology research but that may just reflect my naivety and lack of appreciation and knowledge in the space. However, what appeared to be stressed during the discussion was:
Pharmaceutical companies want to interact with biotech as early as possible.
Many pharmaceutical companies are reimagining their approach to disease by considering aging and long-term health as a whole
Although the initial “hype” of seno-therapeutics was many years ago, it may in fact still be a promising field to collaborate in.
Takeaways From Preclinical Perspectives
Senescent cells are heterogeneous. Everything from cell type, induction method, physiological and disease context, all have a role. It is normal to have sub-populations of senescent cells in vitro and in vivo.
The stage of the cell cycle a cell is in before inducing senescence can affect its phenotype
There are alternatives to B-gal for identifying senescence cells such as GLF16
Using a senolytic whose activity is dependent on the level of certain senescence activities may be a promising avenue to pursue
Immune surveillance for senescent cells can be stimulated by certain therapies
Premature senescent models can be generated in mice through ERCC1 deletion
Studies should not just look at antagonistic markers of senescence but also primary markers (look at causes of damage not just responses to damage)
Takeaways From Investments and Ventures Round Table
Out of the entire event, the investment portion won awards for liveliness and thought-provoking answers by a mile. Unfortunately, I was so engrossed, I completely forgot to take notes down! However, there was some discussion about whether to go for multiple indications or to really hunker down and develop a drug specific against a particular disease. The answer? There’s no one way to run a biotech company and it won’t deter an investor either way. There’s been success stories on both ends!
Takeaways From Clinical Perspectives:
We need to better determine markers of senolytic efficacy in clinical trial design
Circulating markers in the blood may not accurately reflect or measure the efficacy of a senolytic drug
Physiological context matters for where a senolytic drug is applicable. Different bodily fluids and organs have environments which may degrade one compound but not another
Takeaways From Early-Stage Companies
Epigenetic changes can be causal to certain aging phenotypes
Senescence is hard to define and may be better characterized as a broad set of phenotypes. For instance, not all forms of senescence are necessarily damage-induced.
There needs to be work on vehicles (liposomes, nanoparticles) that deliver senolytic drugs just as much as there needs to be work developing drugs.
Proteins within a cell form condensates due to phase separation. These condensates should be considered in the drug discovery space both in terms of their dysregulation driving pathologies and their interaction with drugs.
Part 3: Reflection
I’ve attended many conferences before but despite this being closer to my area of study, I found it much harder to keep track of all the information being presented. With all the presentations being so heavily interconnected and dense over the 2 days, it made it difficult to associate particular information with a particular speaker and did not give my brain ample time to fully process the information. My personal preference is to have something similar to a high school itinerary with English and Mathematics in the morning, then Philosophy and Art in the afternoon rather than having a full day dedicated to each. This was also in stark contrast to my previous experience of conferences which encompassed a wide array of topics but only scratched the surface with the focus being on the big picture message rather than the nitty gritty details.
However, the benefit of having a conference like this is that everyone in attendance is someone who is heavily invested/interested in the field and as such, I can be confident that everyone I chat with has a certain level of knowledge. This is extremely helpful when asking about relevant internship opportunities, graduate programs, or just general career advice. In fact, the most useful and enjoyable part of my conference experience were during the lunches, dinners, and wine nights where I had the chance to chat with a plethora of people who I previously had only seen pictures and articles of online.
I’ll admit, I did feel like a fish out of water being the youngest person at the conference with such a lack of knowledge compared to everyone else. Sometimes I felt like my opinions wouldn’t be as respected or that people wouldn’t want to chat with me at all, that I’d be wasting their time. However, I think the benefit is that no one views you as competition or as a threat in any sense. In most cases, I found that people are more than willing to offer their two cents on just about anything and are excited to have a young person interested in their work.
Part 4: How to Conference
If I had to give myself some advice for attending a future conference, it would be to:
Research the speakers and their work before hand. This is especially important for conferences in which there is a lot of information overlap or if there are certain individuals who you would like to meet.
Make the most of social opportunities no matter how short or long. I found myself often engaged in conversations during the longer intermissions but seldomly striking up a conversation during a 15 minute coffee break. However, in retrospect these would be great times to just have a quick chat or introduction without any pressure to talk longer. Nevertheless, always say yes and dress to impress when there are both on site and afterparty events!
Don’t talk to the same people during every intermission. While it’s always nice to make a friend or two, I think it’s important that a young person in their field establish themselves by engaging with as many people as possible. This not only helps you better understand the field and what opportunities there are but also helps you further develop your network.
Talk to presenters on the day of their presentation. In order to decrease the chance for any information mix up, having “recency effect” kick in is extremely helpful. Not only is the information is fresh in your head but also your peers who likely are engaging in the same discussion topics. I also found that the presenters/attendees on the first day of the conference were not necessarily the same as the second day. If there is someone you want to speak with, do not hesitate and wait for an opportunity the next day as they may not be there.
Exchange contact information. This was by far my greatest mistake. Being so captivated in conversations during the day of, it never crossed my mind to add people on social media or exchange emails/phone numbers. It’s an easy thing to do and while there’s no harm in doing so after the event, I think it’s a bit more personal to have an in person conversation first that leads to it.
Thank you to Marco Quarta & Marco Demaria for chairing the event, the Phaedon Institute for organizing, and the Buck Institute for hosting. I had a great experience at my first longevity conference and look forward to many more in the years to come.
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