“May you live to 120” is an ancient blessing.  Yet recent research indicates the majority of Americans may not want to extend their lives by  decades.  “Live to 120 Plus—Utopia or Dystopia?” is a public symposium to be held March 8 at Mount St. Mary’s College, organized by The PLATO Society of Los Angeles to address the issues raised by new longevity research. PLATO President Marilyn Slater:  “The Milhaupt Symposium is a valued tradition at PLATO. The name honors one of our founders and first President, Art Milhaupt, who set the high PLATO standards we have maintained for 35 years in our pursuit of life-long learning. We expect the Symposium this year to raise the bar for rich content and stimulating ideas.”

The symposium addresses extension of life span with some of the leading thinkers and scientists in the field. The keynote talk of the morning,

The Aging Revolution:  Longevity in the 21^st Century, will be given by Dr. Pinchas Cohen, Dean of the USC Davis School of Gerontology, and a co-founder of CohBar, a biotechnology company developing mitochondrial peptides for diseases of aging.

The topic, including ethical and societal repercussions, will be further developed by an academic panel including Aubrey de Grey, PhD, a biomedical gerontologist from the SENS Research Foundation, JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez, PhD, a professor in geriatric medicine and gerontology in the UCLA Multicampus Program, and Laurie Zoloth, PhD, McCormick Professor at Northwestern University, who teaches in the departments of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, Religious Studies, and Jewish Studies.  Audience members will participate during the question-and-answer sessions, and in small group discussions over lunch.

The afternoon speaker is Dr. Gary Small, Professor of Psychiatry and Aging at UCLA and Director of the UCLA Longevity Center.  Dr. Small has written more than 400 publications and has developed healthy lifestyle and memory training programs available throughout the US.  Dr. Small’s topic:  Strategies for Living a Long and Healthy Life.

Interested persons of all ages are invited to attend the symposium. Registration is open now at Eventbrite or by calling The PLATO Society of Los Angeles at 310-443-7676.  Ticket includes lunch and free parking.  Registration closes on February 27.

The PLATO Society of Los Angeles is an active learning program for seniors that has been recognized by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and NPR as one of the top programs of its kind in the U.S.   The PLATO Society has over 400 members who participate weekly in one of the twenty-five study discussion groups offered each term. Once each year we offer the Milhaupt Symposium, open to the public, to be held this year at Mount Saint Mary’s College.  We have presented this symposium for many years and it has grown from an afternoon lecture to a Saturday event with several speakers, panels, and discussion groups.  You can learn more about PLATO by visiting our web site: www.theplatosociety.org.

More about the Speakers:

Dr. Pinchas Cohen is the Dean of the USC Davis School of Gerontology.  Trained at the Technion Medical School in Israel and Stanford University, he is the Co-founder of CohBar, a biotechnology company developing mitochondrial peptides for diseases of aging. Dr. Cohen is leading several new initiatives at the USC Davis School, including the development of a center for digital aging, and a major focus on the creation of tools for “personalized aging.” Dr. Cohen’s talk begins at 9:30 am on The Aging Revolution: Longevity in the 21^st Century

Dr. Gary Small is Professor of Psychiatry and Aging at UCLA, and Director of the UCLA Longevity Center.  He has written more than 400 scientific publications and has developed healthy lifestyle and memory training programs that are available throughout the United States. Dr. Small has authored six popular books, including the New York Times best-seller The Memory Bible and his most recent book, The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program.  Dr. Small’s afternoon talk will be Strategies for Living a Long and Healthy Life.

JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez, PhD, is a professor in the UCLA Multicampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.  Her focus, as it has been in the Luskin School of Public Affairs, is to provide aging education for health professionals and prepare societal options for optimal intergenerational aging. She is also a Fellow in the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics.

Aubrey de Grey, PhD, is a biomedical gerontologist based in Cambridge, UK and Mountain View, California, USA, and is the Chief Science Officer of SENS Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to combating the aging process. SRF’s work revolves around repair of the accumulating and eventually pathogenic molecular and cellular side-effects of metabolism (“damage”) that constitute mammalian aging, with the goal of postponing or even eliminating the ill-health of old age.

Laurie S. Zoloth, PhD, is McCormick Professor at Northwestern University, where she teaches in the Departments of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies and Medical Humanities and Bioethics.  In 2001 she was President of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. She is currently the President of The American Academy of Religion, one of the largest academic organizations in the humanities. She is the author or editor of 6 books and over 200 articles on bioethics, religion, justice theory, and Jewish ethics.