The Healthy Lifespan Institute is founded on the research and expertise of some of the most brilliant minds in aging science. These scientists are responsible for numerous breakthroughs that have changed the landscape for research and discovery in the aging space. Their discoveries have been and continue to be instrumental in unlocking the secrets for living longer and healthier lives.
HLI is a charitable nonprofit operated independently of Sirtris and GlaxoSmithKline to provide research and education to the public.
Michelle Dipp, M.D., Ph.D.
President
Michelle Dipp, M.D., Ph.D. is the president of the Healthy Lifespan Institute and vice president of GlaxoSmithKline's Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (ceedd). In her role at the ceedd, Dr. Dipp manages a network of external alliances with world-class biotech companies to bring breakthrough medicines into the GSK pipeline. Dr. Dipp is based at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a GSK company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Prior to managing GSK's ceedd, Dr. Dipp was the vice president of corporate development at Sirtris, which is focused on discovering and delivering small molecule drugs to treat diseases of aging. Dr. Dipp played a leading role in orchestrating the successful acquisition of Sirtris, by GSK in June 2008 for $720 million.
Before joining Sirtris as a founding employee, Dr. Dipp worked in healthcare private equity at The Wellcome Trust, London. Dr. Dipp completed post-doctoral research in the departments of Pharmacology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and published several papers in peer-reviewed journals in the pulmonary field. She holds an M.D. and a Ph.D. in pulmonary physiology from the University of Oxford.
In 2008, Dr. Dipp received the Stevie Award for Women in Business in the category of Best Executive of a non-services business under 100 employees, and the Tech Dealmaker of the Year Award in the category of Life Sciences Mergers and Acquisitions. In 2009, she was named "Emerging Leader" by Pharmaceutical Executive, PharmaVOICE's Top 100 Most Inspiring People in the Life Sciences Industry, and Boston Business Journal's 40 Under 40.
Dr. Dipp is a member of the Research Strategy Committee of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is on the board of directors of City on a Hill Charter School in Roxbury, Mass.
Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board Chair
Christoph Westphal, M.D. Ph.D. co-founded Sirtris in 2004 and has since served as Chief Executive Officer. In addition to leading Sirtris as an independent discovery performance unit within GSK, Dr Westphal serves as SVP of GSK's Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD). At the CEEDD, Dr Westphal and his team are developing a network of external alliances with world-class biotech companies to bring breakthrough medicines into the GSK pipeline. He is based at Sirtirs, which is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Under his leadership, Sirtris has become a recognized pioneer in the research and development of small molecule drugs that target the sirtuins, a family of enzymes that control the aging process. In 2007, Dr Westphal successfully led the company through its initial public offering, resulting in recognition by the Boston Globe as one of the Globe 100 top IPOs of 2007. In June 2008, GSK acquired Sirtris for $720 million.
Prior to establishing Sirtris, Dr Westphal co-founded Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY), Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: MNTA) and Acceleron as CEO. Dr Westphal was formerly a general partner at a venture fund and a consultant with McKinsey. He earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University. He graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University.
Westphal currently serves on the Board of Directors for Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School and the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Westphal has been the lead or senior author on several patent applications and scientific papers in journals, including Cell, Nature and Nature Genetics.
Dr Westphal has received a number of industry awards, including the 2008 Outstanding Individual of the Year Award at the annual Laguna Biotech Meeting; recognition in the Pharmaceutical Executive "45 Under 45" and PharmaVOICE 100 issue, both in 2008; Mass High Tech All Star Award in 2007: and Ernst & Young's New England Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Biopharmaceutical category in 2006.
Dr Westphal enjoys traveling (he has visited over 130 countries) and playing the cello. He is also fluent in English, German, Spanish and French.
David Donabedian, Ph.D.
Treasurer
David H. Donabedian, Ph.D., MBA is the Treasurer of the Healthy Lifespan Institute and Vice President of Strategic Alliances at GlaxoSmithKline's Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (ceedd). In his role at the ceedd, Dr. Donabedian’s responsibilities include identifying and evaluating new business opportunities for the ceedd and supporting the current network of external alliances. Dr. Donabedian is based at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a GSK company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Prior to the ceedd, Dr. Donabedian served as a principal of his own consultancy practice providing business development services to emerging biotechnology companies. He has sourced and closed several agreements with biopharmaceutical companies and academic institutions. Dr. Donabedian’s previous senior level positions include CEO, COO and VP of Business Development for Tutorzilla, BioChemics, and Surface Logix. Dr. Donabedian also worked as a Sr. Manager in Accenture’s Strategic Services Consulting Group serving both in the U.S. and internationally, with assignments focusing on R&D post-merger integration, business unit strategy, and resource planning. Prior to Accenture, Dr. Donabedian held senior level positions at Sentry® Products, a Union Carbide life science venture (now Dow Chemical), where he headed a product development team specializing in developing and patenting a broad range of technologies to the life sciences industries.
Dr. Donabedian began his research career as a scientist with SciMed Life Systems, a division of Boston Scientific, where he developed novel bioadhesives to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms. Dr. Donabedian is an inventor/co-inventor on several patents and has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals in the field of polymer science.
Since 2006, Dr. Donabedian has served as a member of University of Massachusetts Lowell Plastics Advisory Committee. He is also as an Alumni Network Advisor for the University of North Carolina Business School. Dr. Donabedian served as a Mentor for the Durham Scholars program and was invited as a guest lecturer at the University of Indiana’s Kelly School of Business and University of North Carolina’s Business School. He received an A.B. from St. Anselm College, a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where he was a Deloitte Case Cup Challenge Winner.
The Healthy Lifespan Institute's Scientific Advisory Board is comprised of the foremost thought leaders in aging science, generously donating their unpaid time to help promote discovery in aging science and educate the public on ways to live longer and healthier lives.
Peter Elliott, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board
Peter Elliott, Ph.D., has extensive experience in drug development and an impressive track record of delivering novel therapeutics. As the former senior vice president and head of development at Sirtris, he was responsible for spearheading the advancement of more than a dozen drug candidates into clinical trials and helped the company capitalize on the breakthrough therapeutic potential of sirtuin modulators to meet unmet patient needs.
Prior to joining Sirtris, Dr. Elliott was executive vice president of product development at CombinatoRx, Inc., where he led development efforts resulting in eight phase II programs in inflammation and oncology. Dr. Elliott was previously vice president of pharmacology and development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was a co-developer of the multiple myeloma drug, Velcade(R). Prior to that, Dr. Elliott was director of pharmacology at Alkermes, Inc., and led a number of CNS programs at Glaxo. Peter Elliott holds a B.S. from London University, and a Ph.D. in Psychopharmacology from Cambridge University.
Leonard Guarente, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board
Leonard Guarente, Ph.D., is the novartis professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Guarente's lab identified SIR2 as the key gene regulating life span in yeast and C. elegans – an extra copy of SIR2 significantly increases the life span of both organisms. Notably, his lab first discovered the novel biochemical activity of the SIR2 gene product – NAD-dependent deacetylase. This activity suggested that SIR2 might be involved in linking diet to the regulation of aging, addressing the longstanding question of how calorie restriction (CR) might slow aging. Dr. Guarente's lab also studies the mammalian ortholog of SIR2 -- SIRT1. Dr. Guarente’s findings show that extension of healthy life span by CR is not a passive event, but results from the activation of SIRT1, which then impacts on cellular and organismal processes to deliver the benefits.
Dr. Guarente received his B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. at Harvard, under the supervision of Jon Beckwith. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard with Mark Ptashne and has been on the faculty of MIT since 1981. His book Ageless Quest (Cold Spring Harbor Press, 2003) describes the pathway of discovery of SIR2 as a key regulator of life span in response to diet.
Richard Weindruch, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board
For 30 years, Richard Weindruch, Ph.D., has studied the retardation of aging by caloric restriction (CR). He earned his B.S. and M.S. in Biology at the University of Illinois (Urbana) and his Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology at UCLA under the direction of Dr. Roy Walford. He has authored two books and more than 130 scientific articles. In 1988, Drs. Weindruch and Walford published "The Retardation of Aging and Disease by Dietary Restriction," which is widely regarded as the founding text for this growing field.
Dr. Weindruch has received several awards for his research including the 1998 Kleemeir Award from the Gerontological Society of America, the 2000 Nathan Shock Award from the NIA and the 2000 Glenn Award from the Paul Glenn Foundation. He is directing a large, NIA-funded study in rhesus monkeys to determine whether CR retards the aging process in primates. He also oversees other NIA-funded projects exploring the mechanism by which CR retards the aging process in mice.
