Nathan LeBrasseur, PT, PhD, holds the Noaber Foundation Professorship in Aging Research and has appointments in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering at Mayo Clinic. He is the Director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging and the Co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Mayo Clinic. His latest research has centered on cellular senescence, a fundamental mechanism of aging, and interventions to counter this process to extend healthspan. Dr. LeBrasseur has received the Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, the Nathan W. Shock Award Lecture from the National Institute on Aging, and the Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research from the American Federation for Aging Research. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Maria Carranza, PhD, is a program officer specializing in training and career development in the Division of Extramural Activities at the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Carranza serves as the primary point of contact for policies, goals, and processes related to NIA’s individual and institutional training and career development funding opportunities. She manages a variety of programs, including Diversity, Re-Entry and Re-integration, and Continuity and Retention Supplements. After 12 years as a university professor, she joined the National Science Foundation, where she worked with NSF INCLUDES, a comprehensive, national initiative to broaden participation in STEM fields at scale. Dr. Carranza earned a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Baylor University, and conducted postdoctoral studies at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute.