SENSFAI-U : Who's Who

Officers

Academic Initiative Coordinator Kelsey Moody is an advanced honors student double majoring in psychology and biochemistry at SUNY Plattsburgh, and plans to pursue an MD/PhD so as to bring translational methodologies to the SENS research platform. Kelsey currently serves as Academic Coordinator for SENS Foundation, and presently directs the SENS Foundation Academic Initiative (SENSFAI), the student-focused research and development program which he designed and implemented in April 2008. Ever seeking to broaden his knowledgebase and skill sets, Kelsey has dabbled in bioinformatics, business administration, computer science, small business management, and corporate law. He is a firm believer in decisive, flexible, and common sense administration, and recognizes that success in research is contingent on the administrative AND technical competency of senior management. Kelsey is heavily committed to SENS research at all levels. He is currently investigating the effects of cathepsin d oxidation on tau protein degradation as it relates to Alzheimer’s disease, and is also leading a psychology team to investigate the pro-aging trance as it relates to terror management theory, learned helplessness, the naturalistic fallacy, and necrophobia. Outside of academia Kelsey is an avid athlete, having played one season of division III men’s basketball and two seasons of paintball in the semi-professional American X-Ball League. He continues to enjoy both activities recreationally. Kelsey hopes that his efforts and growing competency in research will help to accelerate the speed at which life-extending technologies can be administered to the public. At the present time, he has no plans of growing a beard. Contact Kelsey.

Project Development Coordinator Stuart Calimport's research interests lie in the fields of applied biogerontology, theoretical biology, bioethics, bioinformatics, systems biology, synthetic biology, dissipative systems, translational research, mitochondrial biology, adult stem cell biology, cell signaling, cellular senescence, cellular rejuvenation, and cryogenics. He is currently in the 1st year of a PhD supervised by Dr Gabriele Saretzki and Professor Thomas von Zglinicki at the University of Newcastle, in the Crucible laboratory, International Centre for Life on the project "Role of telomerase for stress and nutrient signaling in senescence and under caloric restriction." Stuart earned his Master’s Degree in Molecular Medicine from Imperial College London in 2008 and his Bachelor’s Degree in Bioinformatics from the University of Birmingham in 2007. He is a member of the Lifeboat Foundation advisory boards for medicine and complex systems. Stuart joined the ranks of MFURI late 2008, and acted as a Student Mentor and Science Department Head until the change over to SENSFAI mid 2009, where he is now involved in project creation and manages the SENSFAI Project Development Committee.

Student Groups Coordinator Aaron Stupple is a medical student at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. He earned a BS in biochemistry and an MA in teaching from Cornell University. In the lab he is studying a neuronal polarization protein associated with Alzheimer’s. Previously, he taught middle and high school science for five years, where his duties ranged from coaching and directing theater to advising several clubs and programs. He has extensive experience working with and motivating young people. His previous research has taken him from the forests of upstate New York to the tundra of Alaska, ranging in subject from archaebacteria to archaeology.

Interim Communications Officer David Vorriccelli's education and experience have been quite diverse. He began his university studies in chemical engineering and entertained a wide range of academic interests, eventually choosing to major in political science. In 2009 he received a BS in Political Science from Arizona State University. David's life experiences have instilled within him a belief that it is the fundamental right of all humans to contribute to and benefit from the ongoing global developments in science and culture. His recent efforts are concentrated on cooperative entrepreneurship as a method to foster the development of sustainable, open-source business models and practices, which he expects will define and broaden the marketplace for Life Extension Technologies in the not-too-distant future. David has begun a new business undertaking, serving as the Marketing Director of Long Bars, LLC. He eagerly networks and collaborates with like-minded entrepreneurs and individuals to learn from, utilize, and improve upon existing methods of enterprise. He does this with commitment to the same open-source principles that have enabled human civilizations throughout history; always seeking ways to improve upon our understanding and sharing that knowledge with each subsequent generation. David brings with him more than 13 years of marketing, sales, and communication experience, coupled with keen understanding of, and interest in, the sciences. He hopes to encourage a prosperous, peaceful transition to the coming chapters of our shared human history... and be there to see it.

Staff

Student mentor Kemal Akman is an experienced IT security- and software expert with a long-standing interest in aging research and life sciences. Since 2000, he worked on cryptography and IT security technology in young innovative companies. He has been engaged in the life extension movement for many years, being a member of advisory boards of the LifeBoat foundation for managing existential risks, the German Transhumanists, and helping the German Cryonics Society DGAB. Kemal has been actively interested in orthomolecular medicine, life sciences and the biochemistry of aging for over a decade. He is currently completing a Diplom (similar to M.Sc.) in Bioinformatics at the LMU in Germany with dayjobs as academic research assistant and journalist for medical articles. In 2006, he joined the MPrize 300, and is currently working as a mentor for SENSFAI research and assisting in IT matters when necessary.

Irvin Bussel completed his undergraduate studies at UCI. In that time, he independently explored the evolutionary biology of aging as it pertained to ovarian cancer in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Rose. In addition, he served as the editor-in-chief of Med Times Magazine and was involved in an investigation of psychosocial support services available to humanitarian workers of 9/11 for the Disaster Psychiatry Outreach at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Post-graduation, he joined the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department at UCI as a research scientist/lab manager in order to investigate anti-aging pharmacology in the laboratory of Dr. Mahtab Jafari. In this position, he developed and validated appropriate methodologies for screening candidate anti-aging compounds as well as investigating their mechanisms of action. Currently, he is an M.D student at the Chicago Medical School in Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Concurrently, he is earning a Masters in Healthcare Administration and Management. Irvin Bussel is pursuing a career as a physician-scientist in Regenerative Medicine where his emphasis will be on applications alongside discovery.

Johan Sjoberg is studying molecular biology at the University of Lund in Sweden. His latest research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Rejuvenation Research in April 2009, and investigated glucosepane, a protein cross-linking product that plays a major role in human aging. Johan's dedicated volunteer service to SENSFAI is paralleled by his recent unanimous appointment to President of the Lund Student Union of Science after less than one year of involvement with the student union. A committed advocate of the SENS strategy, which he believes to be the most viable way to accomplish significant human life extension, Johan's goal is to become a biogerontologist and help further the SENS plan with his research. He is a stellar student, and has completed two years of university studies with a cumulative GPA of 4.0, while simultaneously having been engaged in a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including SENSFAI.

Lucas Trindade has a BSc in Genetics, and an MSc in Cell Biology. He is currently working in the field of aging, diet and stem cell biology as a PhD student in Japan.

Advisors

John Schloendorn is a graduate student at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University. He is working at the Center for Environmental Biotechnology with Bruce Rittmann. John is collaborating with Jacques Mathieu on the characterization of our 7-ketocholesterol degraders. His main focus is biochemistry.

Advisor Mark Hamalainen earned a Master's degree from the University of Cambridge in the Fall of 2008, studying mitochondrial to nuclear gene transfer. He has also researched lysosomal enhancement as a cure for lysosomal storage diseases. Currently he is working at Halcyon Molecular to develop an ultra low cost DNA sequencing technology.