An official website of the United States government
Dates
April 14, 2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 3:15 p.m., ET
April 15, 2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., ET
April 16, 2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., ET
Purpose and Background
This conference will review new research methods in genomics, particularly comparative primate genomics, and explore their potential use in research on the bases of differences in primate species’ longevity and/or risk of specific age-related pathologies. Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to the very large differences in primate species life spans and health spans could identify powerful factors influencing longevity with potential for translation into interventions in humans.
This workshop comes at a timely moment as new technologies and methodologies have produced numerous high-quality complete (or almost complete) human and primate reference genomes and better genome assemblies. These allow researchers better methods to study a variety of important genome features (e.g. repetitive elements, copy number variation, large structural variations). The workshop’s goal is to identify strategies for characterizing differences in genomic features across primate species, and methods to understand the pathways by which such differences may contribute to species life span and health span differences. Additionally, it will provide feedback on how current research infrastructure and resources could be utilized to promote future high-quality research.
Agenda
Note: All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Talks will be 15 minutes each, with 45 minutes at the end of each session for Q&As and discussion.
Day 1 | Monday, April 14, 2025
9:00 a.m. – 9:10 a.m. | Welcome and Introductions/Goals of the Workshop, Evan Hadley, Director, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, National Institute on Aging (NIA)
9:10 a.m. – 9:15 a.m | Workshop Proceedings Communications, Carol Nguyen, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, NIA
Session 1, Part 1 | Characterization of genomic regions/features of interest and potential relationship to species longevity Moderator, Michael Bennani, Division of Neuroscience, NIA
- 9:15 a.m. Coding regions: Transcriptomic and proteomic evidence, Vadim Gladyshev, Harvard University
- 9:30 a.m. Characterizing the functional impacts of cis-regulatory changes across human evolution, Steve Reilly, Yale School of Medicine
- 9:45 a.m. Alternative splicing in primate brain evolution and a curious case of MAPT/tauopathy, Chaolin Zhang, Columbia University
- 10:00 a.m. The Search for Primate Longevity Genetics: with special emphasis on FOXO3 gene-gene interactions, Tim Donlon, University of Hawaii
- 10:15 a.m. Epigenetic predictors of primate species life spans, beyond the epigenetic clock, Chris Faulk, University of Minnesota
- 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Q&A and Discussion from Session 1, Part 1
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | LUNCH BREAK
Session 1, Part 2 | Characterization of genomic regions/features of interest and potential relationship to species longevity , Moderator, Nalini Raghavachari, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, NIA.
- 12:15 p.m. Centromere variation among human and non-human primates Glennis Logsdon, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
- 12:30 p.m. Repetitive genome elements, Rachel O’Neill, University of Connecticut
- 12:45 p.m. DNA secondary structures/genome instability, Karen Vasquez, University of Texas at Austin
- 1:00 p.m. Duplications, deletions, and chromosomal rearrangements, DongAhn Yoo, University of Washington
- 1:15 p.m. Sex chromosome differences in primates, Kateryna Makova, Penn State University
- 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. | Q&A and Discussion from Session 1, Part 2.
2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | BREAK
Session 4 Preview | Functional study strategies to characterize phenotypic effects of variants under selection for longevity, Moderator, Evan Hadley, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, NIA
- 2:30 p.m. Comparative studies of genomic functional responses to environmental factors (GxE), Amanda J Lea, Vanderbilt University
- 2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. | Q&A and Further Discussion
Day 2 | Tuesday, April 15, 2025
9:10 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Daily Workshop Introduction & Workshop Proceedings Communications, Manuel Moro, Division of Aging Biology, National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Session 2 | Evolutionary Analyses, Moderator, Carol Nguyen, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, NIA
Unique features in hominin evolution vs. other hominids
Methods to identify positive or negative selection for differing genetic and epigenetic characteristics related to primate life span (e.g., nonsynonymous/synonymous codon variation, strength of cis-regulatory promoters, identifying clusters of multiple genes or methylation sites correlated with life span).
- 9:15 a.m. Evolutionary action and evolutionary trace methods to identify functional and fitness effects of genetic divergence. Olivier Lichtarge, Baylor College of Medicine
- 9:30 a.m. Copy number variation in human brain evolution and cognitive diseases, James Sikela, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
- 9:45 a.m. Accelerated Regions, Katie Pollard, University of California San Francisco
- 10:00 a.m. TOGA 2.0: Gene annotation, classification and orthology inference, Michael Hiller, Senckenberg Research Institute
- 10:15 a.m. Role of gene expansion and structural variation in primate evolution, Megan Dennis, University of California – Davis Health
- 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Q&A and Discussion from Session 2
11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | BREAK
Session 3 | Relationship between genetic and/or epigenetic features and phenotypes, Moderator, Melissa Gerald, Division of Behavioral and Social Research, NIA
Studies for selecting functional “candidates” from genes with evidence of selection related to longevity, rates of chronic aging disease progression or relationships to life history milestones that are correlated with species life span.
- 11:30 a.m. Effects of proposed aging-related mechanisms or correlates of life span, Vadim Gladyshev, Harvard University
- 11:45 a.m. Biological processes modulating longevity across primates, Arcadi Navarro, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
- 12:00 p.m. Causes and consequences of stress in aging, somatic mutation, and genetic adaptation in long- and short-lived species, Peter Sudmant, University of California, Berkeley
- 12:15 p.m. Epigenetic regulation of timing of neuronal maturation, Lorenz Studer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- 12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. | Q&A and Discussion from Session 3
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. | LUNCH BREAK
Session 4 | Functional study strategies to characterize phenotypic effects of variants under selection for longevity, Moderated by Sarah Craig
- 2:15 p.m. Heterogenous differentiated cultures as models for studying human variation and disease, Yoav Gilad, University of Chicago
- 2:30 p.m. Methods for studying regulatory variation, Ryan Tewhey, Jackson Laboratory
- 2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Q&A and Discussion from Session 4
Day 3 | Wednesday, April 16, 2025
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Daily Workshop Introduction & Workshop Proceedings Communications, Carol Nguyen, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, NIA
Session 5 | Integrative Genomics and Other ‘Omics, Moderator, Julie Mattison, Intramural Research Program, NIA
Strategies for integrative analyses combining multiple genomic and gene functional databases and current literature (including but not limited to machine learning or artificial approaches) to identify novel features related to primate species longevity and rate of progression of aging conditions.
- 9:15 a.m. Methodological issues in integrating diverse omics and phenotype data, Nicholas Schork, The Translational Genomics Research Institute
- 9:30 a.m. Combining comparative genomics and machine learning to study the genetics of lifespan, Andreas Pfenning, Carnegie Mellon University
- 9:45 a.m. Integrating intra- and interspecies genetic variation in comparative primate studies, Jeff Rogers, Baylor College of Medicine
- 10:00 a.m. Integration of multiple-‘omics (transcriptomics, metabolomics, genomics) to identify molecular pathways and networks altered by developmental programming, Laura Cox, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
- 10:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Q&A and Discussion from Session 5
11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | BREAK
Session 6, Part 1 | The data! What is available? What is missing? Tools?, Moderator, Luci Roberts, Division of Neuroscience, NIA
What can NIA and or NIH do regarding informatics and data resources to make integrative analyses easier/faster/more accessible?
- 11:15 a.m. T2T genomes of humans and non-human primates, Adam Phillippy, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
- 11:30 a.m. Expanding comparative genomics to hundreds of primates to explore genome function, Elinor Karlsson, Broad Institute
- 11:45 a.m. Primate Sequencing and Conservation Initiative, Jeff Rogers, Baylor College of Medicine
- 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. | Q&A and Discussion – Primate Genome Projects and BIG data
12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. | LUNCH BREAK
Session 6, Part 2 | The data! What is available? What is missing? Tools? Moderator,Manuel Moro, Division of Aging Biology, NIA
- 1:45 p.m. Primate Aging Database, Gergens Polynice, CleMetric
- 2:00 p.m. Genetics Aging Databases, JP de Magalhaes, University of Birmingham (UK)
- 2:15 p.m. UCSC Genome Browser, Max Haeussler, UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute
- 2:30 p.m. Using NCBI's Toolkit from the NIH Comparative Genomics Resource to Unlock the Potential of Research Organisms, Kim Pruitt, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
- 2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. | Q&A and Discussion – Genomic Resources
3:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | WRAP UP discussion of workshop, NIA Staff and Invited Workshop Speakers
Contact Information
Please contact Carol Nguyen , NIA DGCG for questions you may have about the workshop.
Reasonable Accommodation
Reasonable Accommodation: If you need reasonable accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the meeting organizer listed under Contact information. Please make your request no later than 1 week before the event.