AUSTIN, Texas –Dr. Arlan Richardson, president of the Gerontological Society of America and director of the Aging Research and Education Center at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, will speak at UT Austin Wednesday (Oct. 7) on genetic mechanisms of aging.
Richardson’s talk, titled “A New Approach to Identifying the Mechanisms of Aging,” is scheduled for 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Bass Lecture Hall. Co-sponsors of the event are the UT Gerontology Program and the Health Care Management Advisory Council.
Richardson is a distinguished gerontological researcher in the areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. A research health scientist at Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio, he also directs the Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in Basic Biology of Aging.
Richardson’s major research focus is on changes in gene expression with age. He is using transgenic mice to identify genes that play a critical role in the aging process. Richardson’s work is funded through major grants from the National Institute on Aging and the VA Merit Review.
He has received numerous awards for outstanding research in his field. In 1990, Richardson was honored with the Research Career Scientist Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 1993, he received the Nathan W. Shock Award from the Gerontology Research Center of the National Institute on Aging. In 1995, he received one of the Gerontological Society of America’s highest honors, the Robert W. Kleemeier Award for outstanding research in the field of gerontology. In 1997, he was appointed to the Methodist Hospital Foundation Chair in Aging Studies and Research.
Richardson earned his bachelor of science degree in chemistry and biology from Peru State College in Nebraska and his doctorate degree in chemistry, with an emphasis in biochemistry from Oklahoma State University.
The Oct. 7 lecture is free and open to the public. Bass Lecture Hall is located in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Sid Richardson Hall, Building 3, on the UT Austin campus.
