109th Distinguished Research Lecture 2015
鈥淐an We Achieve Optimal Longevity?听 From Cells to the Community: The New Translational Physiology of Healthy Aging鈥�
Doug Seals听is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder. He obtained B.S. degrees in Education and Business from William Jewell College, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Exercise and Applied physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and postdoctoral research training in Aging and Applied Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. After an initial tenure-track faculty position at the University of Arizona, he moved his laboratory to the former Department of Kinesiology at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1992, while creating the first-ever joint appointment in the CU School of Medicine (Divisions of Geriatric Medicine and Cardiology).听
Professor Seal鈥檚 primary research interest is to establish lifestyle and pharmacological strategies that optimize physiological function with aging and thereby extend the period of healthy life (鈥渉ealthspan鈥�). Much of his recent work has focused on preventing vascular aging (the major cause of cardiovascular disease), and promoting translational physiological approaches in biological and biomedical aging research. Professor Seal鈥檚 laboratory provides scientific training at the undergraduate, M.S., Ph.D. and postdoctoral levels. His research has been continuously funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), particularly the National Institute on Aging (NIA), since 1986.听
Professor Seal鈥檚 founded an NIH Clinical Translational Research Center at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1999, which provides a core facility for conducting biomedical research on human subjects. He also established the first formal Responsible Conduct of Research program for the CU-Boulder campus and served as its director in 2011. He has taught undergraduate courses in physiology, and graduate courses in the physiology of aging, as well as professional skills for the research scientist.听 In recent years, he has engaged in extensive public outreach efforts to promote healthy aging practices in the community, including a CU on the Weekend series in the spring of 2015.
Awards: In 2008, Dr. Seal鈥檚 was named Professor of Distinction in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado. In 2004, he received a 10-year MERIT Award from NIA to support his research on cardiovascular aging. He was named by the American Physiological Society as its 2013 Edward F. Adolph Distinguished Lecturer for his work in the physiology of aging.