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The Buck Institute for Research on Aging is an independent biomedical research institute that researches aging and age-related disease.

The institute, a nonprofit organization located in Novato, California, began its research program in 1999 as the nation's first freestanding institute for basic aging research. It is named for Marin County philanthropists Leonard and Beryl Hamilton Buck, whose estate funded the endowment that helped establish the institute.

Its current president and CEO, Eric M. Verdin, was appointed in November 2016. He succeeds Brian K. Kennedy and founding president and CEO, Dale Bredesen.

The Buck Institute is currently one of eleven organizations that compose The Glenn Centers for Research in Aging, which are research centers that aim to extend the healthy years of life through basic research.

History
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The Institution opened its doors in August 1999 and completed the construction of an additional building, funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, in 2012. In 2015, it became the world's largest stem cell bank, storing 300 stem cell lines at the time. In July 2018, the institution announced, with $6 million from ClearAccessIP CEO Nicole Shanahan as seed money, it will establish the Center for Female Reproductive Longevity and Equality.

Architecture
The campus of the Buck Institute was designed by the architect I. M. Pei, who is known for works like the Louvre Pyramid. The institute is on a 488-acre (1.97 km2; 0.76 sq mi) site located in the foothills of Mount Burdell, north of Novato, California.

Research
The Buck Institute houses twenty laboratories that fall under one or more of the following ten focus areas :


 * 1) AI and computational biology
 * 2) Basic mechanisms of aging
 * 3) Cancer associated with aging
 * 4) Cellular stress and disease
 * 5) Exercise, nutrition, and metabolism
 * 6) Female reproductive longevity
 * 7) Mitochondria and bioenergetics
 * 8) Neurodegeneration
 * 9) Senescence and inflammation
 * 10) Stem cells and regenerative medicine

It serves as an incubator for many biotechnology start-up companies, including Unity Biotechnology and Mount Tam Biotechnologies. Unity Biotechnology, co-founded by a Buck faculty member Judith Campisi, is using senolytic drugs to eliminate senescent cells to fight age-related diseases. Mount Tam Biotechnologies, named for Mount Tamalpais, the highest peak in Marin County, is researching the effects the drug rapamycin has on extending health spans in animals via the mTOR gene pathways. The Buck Institute owns significant legal rights to the drug, but has leased out its rights to Mount Tam Bio.

The institute is currently leasing 27,000 sq ft of its campus to for-profit businesses, including BioMarin, Ultragenyx, Cellular Dynamics, An2H Discovery Limited, and Excel Venture Management.

Education
The Buck Institute and the USC David School of Gerontology announced a joint PhD Biology of Aging Program in 2013, making it the first aging biology PhD program in the nation. The institute also collaborates with Dominican University of California to provide its Biological Sciences master's students research opportunities and Touro University to host the Medical Health Sciences master's students.

The institute offers research internships for high school students, education programs for teachers called STEAM ENGINE , and weekly docent-led tours on Thursdays.

The institute is the "founding" partner of the North Bay Science Discovery Day, an annual science education and outreach event for children in the North Bay.

Notable Faculty

 * Judith Campisi
 * Heinrich Jasper
 * Brian K. Kennedy
 * Eric M. Verdin