Ana María Cuervo on the science of ageing

Spanish biologist Ana María Cuervo discusses the cutting-edge science of human longevity with Jamie Metzl, Nir Barzilai and David Sinclair.

The 92Y hosts some of the world’s leading experts on ageing: Harvard University’s David Sinclair and Nir Barzilai, Ana Maria Cuervo of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Science fiction writer and futurist Jamie Metzl –all gathered together to explore the prospects for the future of life. Scientists are trying to make human lives healthier and longer. Is that possible? How? Can we live to 150?

Ana Maria Cuervo is a Spanish cell biologist. She studied medicine at the University of Valencia. She currently holds the Robert and Renee Belfer professorship for the study of neurodegenerative diseases. She is considered an expert in the field of autophagy, the process by which cells recycle their waste and the molecular biology of aging. Her work focuses on the causes of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Her objective is to develop therapies which can restore normal cell cleaning service and therefore prevent the accumulation of toxic proteins of dead cells and cells affected by the disease.