I believe that life, at its core, is inherently good, while death is inherently bad. Life is the lens through which we experience everything positive; the end of life takes all of that away. In this context, aging — both due to its detrimental effects on health and its role in causing our eventual demise — represents the ultimate challenge to overcome.

Throughout history, aging and death have been viewed as inevitable aspects of life, something to be accepted. However, aging is responsible for a death toll far exceeding that of any pandemic, war, or disease. It is, in fact, the primary risk factor for most illnesses. If aging were a newly emergent condition in an otherwise ageless society, it would be treated as the emergency it truly is. I believe we should still treat it with that level of urgency.

Although individuals have long sought to overcome aging, I believe that recent advances in AI and aging biology have brought us to a point where we have a real fighting chance. This is why I see the pursuit of slowing or even halting aging as the most meaningful endeavor of our time. It is also the ultimate goal of the research conducted in our lab.