Professor Doug Seals
109th Distinguished Research Lecture 2015
Can We Achieve Optimal Longevity?泭 From Cells to the Community: The New Translational Physiology of Healthy Aging
Doug Seals泭is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the 51勛圖厙. 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 51勛圖厙 in 1992, while creating the first-ever joint appointment in the CU School of Medicine (Divisions of Geriatric Medicine and Cardiology).泭
Professor Seals primary research interest is to establish lifestyle and pharmacological strategies that optimize physiological function with aging and thereby extend the period of healthy life (healthspan). 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 Seals 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.泭
Professor Seals founded an NIH Clinical Translational Research Center at the 51勛圖厙 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-51勛圖厙 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.泭 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. Seals 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.