Center for Aging and Longevity Studies and The Promise of Aging and Longevity Science

Humans are poised at the threshold of remarkable changes in their relationship with time, sparked by extraordinary advances in the biology of aging and the discovery that its progression can be dramatically slowed. The Center for Aging and Longevity Studies (CALS) was founded to expand upon these breakthroughs, to apply them to intervening in the aging process, and to investigate the psychological and societal impact of this rapidly advancing science.

Research in the field of aging and longevity carried out in CALS holds the promise of both extending the period of youthful vigor and forestalling the onset of age-related disease. Imagine if, instead of the challenge of treating many different age-related ailments individually, human health could be dramatically improved by treating only a single one: aging. A large number of age-driven diseases, including cardiovascular, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases could be simultaneously ameliorated simply with the single intervention of slowing the aging clock. Further, recent biological discoveries indicate that it may even be possible to turn the clock backwards, that is, to reverse aspects of age-related decline and reclaim at least some elements of youthfulness, a prospect that is encompassed by ongoing research in CALS.

CALS is dedicated to changing the relationship between human experience and time. We are striving to fulfill the promise of the science of aging by working to extend the period of vigor, vitality, and vibrancy during the arc of life.

Overview of the Center

CALS members span a broad multidisciplinary group of researchers, scholars, and educators who seek to extend healthspan, alleviate age-related diseases, enhance the vitality of an aging population, and investigate the societal impact of extended longevity. The Center works to advance both our basic understanding of aging and its applications to human biology. It also reaches out to the community to help empower an aging society.

Although recently inaugurated, CALS is now among the largest and most broadly interdisciplinary centers devoted to aging and longevity in California. The 30 CALS faculty and more than 300 CALS-affiliated researchers come from over 15 academic departments and institutes at UC Santa Barbara and other institutions, with common interests in understanding the multilayered problems of aging and longevity as they take center stage in a demographically aging world.

CALS faculty currently come from many departments and centers on campus, including: 

• Anthropology
• Biological Engineering
• Biomolecular Science and Engineering
• Center for Black Studies Research
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Chicana and Chicano Studies
• Communication
• Computer Sciences
• East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies
• Economics
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
• Neuroscience Research Institute
• Psychological and Brain Sciences
• Sociology