The Future of Human Healthspan

by The National Academies, The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Healthspan Steering Committee

2008 · National Academies Press

An individual's healthspan can be defined as the length of time an individual is able to maintain good health. In 2007, over one hundred experts and researchers from public and private institutions across the nation convened to find new ways of addressing the human healthspan and the elusive nature of aging. Experts in public health, bioengineering, neuroscience and gerontology discussed how stress and lifestyle influence the decline of health at older ages. Other discussions focused on the integration of technology in the quality of life, gerontology, regenerative medicine and life expectancy with regard to social and behavioral traits. Still, other groups explored topics such as the cellular and molecular mechanisms of biological aging, the effects of exercise on the human healthspan, and changes in social context to enhance functional status of the elderly. Most importantly, experts agreed that it was imperative to ensure that the elderly have access to medical services by establishing relationships with health care and insurance providers.

The Genomic Revolution

by The National Academies, The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Genomics Planning Committee, The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Genomics Steering Committee

2006 · National Academies Press

The 2005 conference, "The Genomic Revolution: Implications for Treatment and Control of Infectious Disease," attracted scientists, engineers, and medical researchers to work on new interdisciplinary responses using genomics to treat and control infectious diseases. Eleven conference working groups gave the participants eight hours to develop new research approaches to problems in infectious disease using genomics. Among the challenges were designing a new device to detect viral and bacterial pathogens; how best to use $100 million to prevent a future pandemic flu outbreak; how to improve rapid response to an outbreak of disease and reduce the cost of diagnostic tests; and how to sequence an individual's genome for under $1,000. Representatives from public and private funding organizations, government, industry, and the science media also participated in the working groups. This book provides a summary of the conference working groups. For more information about the conference, visit www.keckfutures.org/genomics. The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative was launched in 2003 to stimulate new modes of scientific inquiry and break down the conceptual and institutional barriers to interdisciplinary research. The National Academies and the W.M. Keck Foundation believe considerable scientific progress and social benefit will be achieved by providing a counterbalance to the tendency to isolate research within academic fields. The Futures Initiative is designed to enable researchers from different disciplines to focus on new questions upon which they can base entirely new research, and to encourage better communication between scientists as well as between the scientific community and the public. Funded by a $40 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative is a 15-year effort to catalyze interdisciplinary inquiry and to enhance communication among researchers, funding agencies, universities, and the general public with the object of stimulating interdisciplinary research at the most exciting frontiers. The Futures Initiative builds on three pillars of vital and sustained research: interdisciplinary encounters that counterbalance specialization and isolation; the identification and exploration of new research topics; and communication that bridges languages, cultures, habits of thought, and institutions. Toward these goals, the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative incorporates three core activities each year: Futures conferences, Futures grants, and National Academies Communication Awards.

Collaborations of Consequence

by The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative

2019 · National Academies Press

This publication represents the culmination of the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI), a program of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine supported by a 15-year, $40 million grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation to advance the future of science through interdisciplinary research. From 2003 to 2017, more than 2,000 researchers and other professionals across disciplines and sectors attended an annual "think-tank" style conference to contemplate real-world challenges. Seed grants awarded to conference participants enabled further pursuit of bold, new research and ideas generated at the conference.

NAKFI Synthetic Biology:

by Conference, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, Irvine California, November 20-22, 2009, The National Academies

2010 · National Academies Press

Synthetic biology is an innovative and growing field that unites engineering and biology. It builds on the powerful research that came about as a result of a recombinant DNA technology and genome sequencing. By definition, synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary enterprise comprising biologists of many specialties, engineers, physicists, computer scientists and others. It promises a fundamentally deeper understanding of how living systems work and the capacity to recreate them for medicine, public health and the environment, including renewable energy. NAKFI Synthetic Biology: Building a Nation's Inspiration discusses new foundational technologies and tools required to make biology easier to engineer, considers ethical issues unique to synthetic biology, explores how synthetic biology can lead to an understanding of the principles underlying natural genetic circuits and debates how synthetic biology can be used to answer fundamental biological questions.