Brian K. Kennedy

Brian K. Kennedy
Born (1967-01-30) January 30, 1967 (age 57)
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Alma materNorthwestern University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scientific career
InstitutionsNational University of Singapore
Buck Institute for Research on Aging
University of Washington
Guangdong Medical College
Doctoral advisorLeonard P. Guarente

Brian K. Kennedy is a scientist, performing research on the science of aging and healthy longevity. Since 2017, he has served as a Distinguished Professor in Biochemistry and Physiology at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in the National University of Singapore,[1] where he is currently the Director of the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme [2] and the Asian Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality.[3] His efforts have been directed at building world-class longevity research in Singapore.

Dr. Kennedy received his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University before completing a Ph.D. in biology at M.I.T. He initiated aging studies at this time and, working with Leonard Guarente and Nicanor Austriaco, published the first paper linking Sirtuins to aging in yeast.[4] After a postdoctoral fellowship at MGH Cancer Center, he became an Assistant and later associate professor in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Washington. During this window and working with Matt Kaeberlein, he published seminal reports identifying the importance of the mTOR pathway in regulating longevity.[5][6][7] In 2010, joined the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, serving as president and CEO until 2016 and remaining on the faculty until 2020. He has also directed a laboratory at Guangdong Medical College from 2006 to 2012 in China.


Publishing over 240 manuscripts, most describing the biology of aging, and including seminal reviews such as one in 2014 that helped define the pathways coordinating the aging process.[8] Dr. Kennedy has more recently focused efforts on extending the human lifespan and health span. His research is currently focused on developing and validating interventions to delay aging and generating better biomarkers of biological aging.[9] He has been a long-term advocate for targeting the core processing of aging to mitigate functional decline and forestall age-associated chronic conditions. He has performed numerous interviews, provided lectures, and served on academic review panels globally in these efforts. He also co-hosts a popular webinar on Healthy Longevity that provides scientific information about the mechanisms of aging and the interventions that may extend healthspan.[10]

Dr. Kennedy has also been active in the private sector, founding companies and serving as Advisor to many others. One of these, Ponce de Leon Health,[11] where he was heavily involved in the research and developed natural products designed to extend healthspan.[12] He consults for other companies related to longevity, including biotechnology companies, longevity clinics, and diagnostic companies.

  1. ^ "Brian Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Physiology". medicine.nus.edu.sg/bch/.
  2. ^ "Healthy Longevity NUS Healthy Longevity TR". medicine.nus.edu.sg/bch/.
  3. ^ "Acrle Our Vision". www.acrle.com/.
  4. ^ Kennedy, Brian K; Austriaco, Nicanor R; Zhang, Jisi; Guarente, Leonard (February 1995). "Mutation in the silencing gene S/R4 can delay aging in S. cerevisiae". Cell. 80 (3): 485–496. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(95)90499-9. PMID 7859289.[non-primary source needed]
  5. ^ Kaeberlein, Matt; Powers, R. Wilson; Steffen, Kristan K.; Westman, Eric A.; Hu, Di; Dang, Nick; Kerr, Emily O.; Kirkland, Kathryn T.; Fields, Stanley; Kennedy, Brian K. (18 November 2005). "Regulation of Yeast Replicative Life Span by TOR and Sch9 in Response to Nutrients". Science. 310 (5751): 1193–1196. Bibcode:2005Sci...310.1193K. doi:10.1126/science.1115535. PMID 16293764.[non-primary source needed]
  6. ^ Powers, R. Wilson; Kaeberlein, Matt; Caldwell, Seth D.; Kennedy, Brian K.; Fields, Stanley (15 January 2006). "Extension of chronological life span in yeast by decreased TOR pathway signaling". Genes & Development. 20 (2): 174–184. doi:10.1101/gad.1381406. PMC 1356109. PMID 16418483.[non-primary source needed]
  7. ^ Steffen, Kristan K.; MacKay, Vivian L.; Kerr, Emily O.; Tsuchiya, Mitsuhiro; Hu, Di; Fox, Lindsay A.; Dang, Nick; Johnston, Elijah D.; Oakes, Jonathan A.; Tchao, Bie N.; Pak, Diana N.; Fields, Stanley; Kennedy, Brian K.; Kaeberlein, Matt (April 2008). "Yeast Life Span Extension by Depletion of 60S Ribosomal Subunits Is Mediated by Gcn4". Cell. 133 (2): 292–302. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.02.037. PMC 2749658. PMID 18423200.[non-primary source needed]
  8. ^ Kennedy, Brian K.; Berger, Shelley L.; Brunet, Anne; Campisi, Judith; Cuervo, Ana Maria; Epel, Elissa S.; Franceschi, Claudio; Lithgow, Gordon J.; Morimoto, Richard I.; Pessin, Jeffrey E.; Rando, Thomas A.; Richardson, Arlan; Schadt, Eric E.; Wyss-Coray, Tony; Sierra, Felipe (November 2014). "Geroscience: Linking Aging to Chronic Disease". Cell. 159 (4): 709–713. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.10.039. PMC 4852871. PMID 25417146.[non-primary source needed]
  9. ^ Fong, Sheng; Pabis, Kamil; Latumalea, Djakim; Dugersuren, Nomuundari; Unfried, Maximilian; Tolwinski, Nicholas; Kennedy, Brian; Gruber, Jan (19 June 2024). "Principal component-based clinical aging clocks identify signatures of healthy aging and targets for clinical intervention". Nature Aging. 4 (8): 1137–1152. doi:10.1038/s43587-024-00646-8. PMC 11333290. PMID 38898237.[non-primary source needed]
  10. ^ "Webinar Series - Healthy Longevity". www.nus.edu.sg/.
  11. ^ "Ponce De Lon Health". pdlhealth.com/.
  12. ^ Asadi Shahmirzadi, Azar; Edgar, Daniel; Liao, Chen-Yu; Hsu, Yueh-Mei; Lucanic, Mark; Asadi Shahmirzadi, Arash; Wiley, Christopher D.; Gan, Garbo; Kim, Dong Eun; Kasler, Herbert G.; Kuehnemann, Chisaka; Kaplowitz, Brian; Bhaumik, Dipa; Riley, Rebeccah R.; Kennedy, Brian K.; Lithgow, Gordon J. (September 2020). "Alpha-Ketoglutarate, an Endogenous Metabolite, Extends Lifespan and Compresses Morbidity in Aging Mice". Cell Metabolism. 32 (3): 447–456.e6. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2020.08.004. PMC 8508957. PMID 32877690.[non-primary source needed]