Brian K. Kennedy

Brian K. Kennedy is a scientist, performing research on the science of aging and healthy longevity. Since 2017, he has served as a Distinguished Professor in Biochemistry and Physiology at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in the National University of Singapore, where he is currently the Director of the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme and the Asian Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality. His efforts have been directed at building world-class longevity research in Singapore.

Dr. Kennedy received his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University before completing a Ph.D. in biology at M.I.T. He initiated aging studies at this time and, working with Leonard Guarente and Nicanor Austriaco, published the first paper linking sirtuins to aging in yeast. After a postdoctoral fellowship at MGH Cancer Center, he became an Assistant and later associate professor in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Washington. During this window and working with Matt Kaeberlein, he published seminal reports identifying the importance of the mTOR pathway in regulating longevity. In 2010, joined the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, serving as president and CEO until 2016 and remaining on the faculty until 2020. He has also directed a laboratory at Guangdong Medical College from 2006 to 2012 in China.

Publishing over 240 manuscripts, most describing the biology of aging, and including seminal reviews such as one in 2014 that helped define the pathways coordinating the aging process. Dr. Kennedy has more recently focused efforts on extending the human lifespan and health span. His research is currently focused on developing and validating interventions to delay aging and generating better biomarkers of biological aging. He has been a long-term advocate for targeting the core processing of aging to mitigate functional decline and forestall age-associated chronic conditions. He has performed numerous interviews, provided lectures, and served on academic review panels globally in these efforts. He also co-hosts a popular webinar on Healthy Longevity that provides scientific information about the mechanisms of aging and the interventions that may extend healthspan.

Dr. Kennedy has also been active in the private sector, founding companies and serving as Advisor to many others. One of these, Ponce de Leon Health, where he was heavily involved in the research and developed natural products designed to extend healthspan. He consults for other companies related to longevity, including biotechnology companies, longevity clinics, and diagnostic companies.