BOSTON, MA — Aug. 25, 2026 — Insilico Medicine and the ARDD organizing committee are pleased to announce that senior officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will join the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for a dedicated government and regulatory panel at the 13th Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting. The meeting will take place October 1–3, 2026, at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University.
The session, titled “Matching Clinical Trials of Therapeutics & Regulatory Mandates,” will take place October 1 from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. and bring together:
Jeffrey Siegel — Director, Office of Drug Evaluation Sciences, Office of New Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), FDA
Justin Penzenstadler — Associate Director, OCHEN/OND/CDER/FDA
Lowell M. Zeta — Acting Chief of Staff, Office of the Commissioner, FDA
The discussion will be moderated by Andrew Brack, Program Manager, Proactive Health, ARPA-H.
The panel represents a significant moment for the aging research and drug discovery field. As longevity science moves from foundational research toward clinical development, direct dialogue among regulators, government research leaders, clinical investigators, and therapeutic developers is becoming increasingly important. The session will explore how clinical trials of emerging therapeutics can be aligned with regulatory mandates and the evidence required to advance new interventions responsibly.
“The biology of aging has become one of the most promising frontiers in biomedical science. Our challenge is to both better understand it and translate fundamental discoveries into interventions that improve healthspan. That will require an unprecedented level of collaboration across disciplines and sectors,” said Vadim Gladyshev, Executive Chair of ARDD and Professor of Medicine at Harvard University. “Conferences like ARDD play an important role by bringing together the people who can ask difficult questions, test new ideas, and build the partnerships needed to advance the field.”
It is rare to have this level of government and regulatory representation in direct conversation with the aging research and drug discovery community. The session offers researchers, biotechnology leaders, clinical developers, and investors an opportunity to hear perspectives from officials working at the intersection of therapeutic development, clinical evidence, public health innovation, and regulatory science.
“ARDD has always been about bringing together the world’s leading minds in aging research to accelerate the development of interventions that extend healthy lifespan,” said Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, Co-Chair of ARDD and Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen. “Moving ARDD to Boston marks an exciting new chapter, placing the conference at the heart of one of the world’s strongest biomedical innovation ecosystems. At the same time, ARDD 2026 reflects the field’s increasing maturity, with an incredibly strong focus on translating scientific discoveries into medicines. The future is bright.”
Officially organized by Insilico Medicine, the 2026 meeting is anchored by Tier 1 sponsors Insilico Medicine and Eli Lilly, with the McKinsey Health Institute joining as the Sole Knowledge Partner. The conference brings together a highly curated ecosystem of academic leaders, biotechnology innovators, pharmaceutical companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers. This includes Tier 3 sponsors AbbVie, AniVC, AstraZeneca, BioAge Labs, Biocytogen, Cambrian Bio, Cyclarity Therapeutics, Dior, GlycanAge, Gordian Biotechnology, Human Longevity, the Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi, LongeVC, Maxwell Biosciences, Nestlé, Tally Health, and TruDiagnostic. Synaro Capital, The Cat Health Company, and PranaGen Bioscience support the event as Tier 4 sponsors, alongside Tier 5 sponsors Estée Lauder, Morgan Stanley, the Intrinsic Capacity Frailty & Sarcopenia Research Conference for Healthy Longevity, and QuadraScope.
“For over a decade, ARDD has served as the primary global platform for academia-pharma-startup-investor dialogue,” said Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D., Co-Chair of ARDD and CEO of Insilico Medicine. “The massive momentum driving this year’s meeting in Boston underscores that longevity biotechnology has become a foundational pillar of modern drug discovery and health economics.”
For further information or interview requests with the speakers, please contact: ardd@pharma.ai
The Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting is the world’s largest meeting dedicated to aging and longevity biotechnology. Now in its 13th year, ARDD brings together researchers, clinicians, biotechnology and pharmaceutical leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers from around the world to accelerate the translation of breakthroughs in the biology of aging into practical R&D and therapeutic programs. The 2026 meeting will take place October 1–3 at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University in Boston. Learn more at agingpharma.org.
The Nordic Aging Society is a supporter of ARDD and a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing research on the biology of aging and promoting collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and industry across the Nordic region and beyond.