Signature Programs - Aging

Aging affects everyone. Never before in the history of humankind has understanding how and why we age been so important. As human life expectancy continues to increase, so must our scientific knowledge of aging processes to ensure healthy longevity, free of the disabilities brought about by age-related diseases and conditions.

The Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies is a recognized world leader in the scientific understanding of the basic biology of aging. Through this strength, we support the advancement of the basic, translational, and clinical research required to improve lives at later ages.

Mission

Our mission is four-fold: To understand the basic biology aging; to discover the therapies that will treat and cure the diseases of aging by fostering dynamic, collaborative research; to educate and train our future scientists and clinicians; to promote public awareness of aging-related issues.

Researchers at the Barshop Institute sustain their scientific studies by successfully competing for funding at the national level. The Barshop Institute supports their research through a wide range of core services and clinical facilities, and through cutting edge programs employing genomics and proteomics, transgenic animal models, and pathological assessments.

Faculty members of the Barshop Institute are dedicated to the training and mentoring of promising new physician-scientists and basic researchers in aging through a wide-range of educational opportunities.

Faculty and staff members involved in community outreach programs educate health professionals and the public on timely issues regarding healthy aging.

Vision

This vision of a world-class center for aging research first came into focus in 1991, when Dr. Edward J. Masoro founded the Health Science Center’s Aging Research and Education Center through a leadership award granted to him by the National Institutes of Health.

Upon Dr. Masoro's retirement in 1996, Dr. Arlan Richardson was named the Center's director, and in 1998, Dr. Richardson turned the burgeoning success of the UT Health Science Center’s aging program into an all out campaign to build a state-of-the-art, basic research facility for the study of the genetics of aging and longevity. In 2001, the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies was born from a generous donation by Mr. and Mrs. Sam Barshop, prominent San Antonio philanthropists.

The faculty, students, and staff at the Barshop Institute remain grateful to Mrs. Ann Barshop and her late husband, Sam, for their vision and steadfast support in helping to develop the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies into a world-acclaimed center for studies of aging and aging-related diseases.

Today, the Barshop Institute is led by Dr. Nicolas Musi.  Dr. Musi is a professor of medicine and a faculty physician with UT Medicine San Antonio. He joined the Health Science Center in 2003. He occupies the Sam and Ann Barshop Endowed Chair in Clinical and Translational Research in Geriatrics and directs the Center for Healthy Aging within the Barshop Institute. He also is director of the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center within the South Texas Veterans Health Care System. He is fellowship-trained in endocrinology and metabolism at the Joslin Diabetes Center of Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Musi said, “I want to make sure that the Barshop Institute maintains and even enhances its stature as one of the leading institutes in the basic biology of aging.  As we do this, we will have a more comprehensive program that will include a strong translational component to move the research conducted at the lab bench and apply it at the bedside.”

Imagine living with strength and vitality throughout your lifespan, growing older with vigor and without disability. The Barshop Institute brings together the world’s leading scientists in aging research, and equips them with the latest technologies and research methods while striving to bring good health and enhanced quality of life to our aging population.

For more information about how you can be involved or make a philanthropic investment in the Barshop Institute, please contact Stephanie Krueger or call 210-567-5001.