Bioscope 2008 Spring

On April 4th, the 4th Annual Poe Symposium, Coming of Aging in America was held. The topics presented were: an overview of aging, development of therapeutics targeted to aspects of aging, immunological response during aging and HIV infection, research into the basic biology and chemistry of aging, and the mind-body connection in adulthood and aging. Our society contains an increasing number of individuals who are entering their retirement years. The first members of the Baby Boom generation, which began after World War II (1946), is entering retirement age (age 62) in 2008. Despite extraordinary success during their earning years, a combination of low savings, increasing life spans, and increasingly expensive medical care lead to an urgent need to understand how the aging population will affect our society. Come what may, it is today's college students who will face the challenges posed by the increasing average age of our society. The symposium presented a broad view of the emerging problem.