The Sam and Ann Barshop Center for Longevity and Aging Studies: The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

The Sam and Ann Barshop Center for Longevity and Aging Studies is a focal point for advanced research designed exclusively to study the genes involved in aging and the diseases of aging. The research performed at the Barshop Center is based on a solid foundation of nearly twenty-five years of aging research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Internationally recognized scientists in aging are now leading innovative research programs using state-of-the-art technologies in molecular and cellular biology to explore aging processes at the gene level in the four major programs that comprise the research at the Barshop Center: the Cellular Aging Program, the Invertebrate Aging Program, the Rodent Models of Aging Program, and the Human Genetics of Aging Program. The researchers involved in these programs share a common purpose in an atmosphere of collaboration to gain the scientific insights necessary to understand the molecular basis of aging. Their long-term goal is to gain the knowledge that will give rise to the development of interventions that retard or arrest the debilitating conditions associated with aging. February or March 2003 marks the groundbreaking for the first building of Barshop Center's new stand-alone facility. This is the initial step toward a $70 million, world-class research complex dedicated to the study of aging and healthy longevity.