The Buck Institute for Research on Aging is an independent biomedical research institute that researches aging and

age-related disease An aging-associated disease (commonly termed age-related disease, ARD) is a disease that is most often seen with increasing frequency with increasing senescence. They are essentially complications of senescence, distinguished from the aging proc ...

. The mission of the Buck Institute is to extend the healthy years of life. The Buck Institute is one of nine centers for aging research of the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research. The institute, a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

located in

Novato, California Novato (Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...

, began its research program in 1999, making it the world's first institute founded primarily to study intervention into the aging process. It is named for

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

philanthropists Leonard and Beryl Hamilton Buck, whose estate funded the endowment that helped establish the institute, and the Buck Trust currently contributes approximately $6 million annually to support the institute's work. The campus of the Buck Institute was designed by architect

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

. In May 2007, the institute established a cooperative agreement with the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

's Davis and Merced campuses to coordinate stem-cell research.

History

The Buck Foundation Trust was created by Beryl Hamilton Buck after the death in 1953 of her husband, pathologist Leonard W. Buck. Leonard's father, Frank Buck, was one of the founders of Belridge Oil. When Beryl Buck died in 1975, the bulk of the estate became part of the

San Francisco Foundation San Francisco Foundation is a San Francisco Bay Area philanthropy organization. It is one of the largest community foundations in the United States. Its mission is to mobilize community leaders, nonprofits, government agencies, and donors to advance ...

, about $7.6 million dedicated to "charitable purposes in Marin County" including, "extending help to the problems of aging." The Belridge Oil stock in the trust was bought in 1979 by

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...

for $253 million, increasing the trust's value substantially. Attempts by the San Francisco Foundation to use the '' cy pres doctrine'' to spend outside of Marin County resulted in litigation which the SF Foundation lost. As part of a 1986 court settlement, the Marin Community Foundation was established to administer the trust, valued in 2013 at approximately $1 billion. The settlement required that 80% of the trust's annual earnings be distributed to causes specific to Marin County. The remaining 20% is to be distributed among three Marin County organizations: *The Buck Institute for Research on Aging *The Buck Institute for Education *

Alcohol Justice Alcohol Justice is a San Rafael, California-based non-profit advocacy, research and policy organization describing itself as "the industry watchdog." The Marin Institute was renamed and re-branded as Alcohol Justice in 2011; it was originally ...

, formerly named The Marin Institute, which deals with alcohol-related problems. In 2016, the institute began talks with the

Gladstone Institutes Gladstone Institutes is an independent, non-profit biomedical research organization whose focus is to better understand, prevent, treat and cure cardiovascular, viral and neurological conditions such as heart failure, HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer's dis ...

, a San Francisco-based foundation, regarding a possible research alliance or merger. That discussion ended in October 2016. In December 2022, the institute hosted ''The Longevity Summit'', a two-day conference on ageing, the emerging new biotech companies in the field, and their innovations.

Facilities

The institute is on a site located in the foothills of

Mount Burdell Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve is a nature reserve in Marin County, California, United States, within the San Francisco Bay Area. It is managed by Marin County Parks. Mount Burdell rises above sea level. Hidden Lake, a seasonal pond located ...

, north of Novato, California. Of this, a portion is dedicated to permanent agricultural use; another portion is open public space.

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

, who responded in 1989 to a request to submit a proposal to design the research facility, was selected as the architect for the institute's facility. Pei's master plan called for of laboratory and facility space. The multi-stage plan calls for five interlocking buildings (four laboratory buildings and a support building) around a one-acre hexagonal courtyard, designed to provide a green oasis for quiet contemplation and outdoor activities. Pei used varied geometric elements and floating staircases, which appear throughout both the administrative and research buildings. The second of four research buildings approved in the master plan was completed in 2012. As of 2016, the institute had more than $80 million in bond debt from building its Novato headquarters in 1999 and completing its third building in 2012. It was leasing 27,000 sq ft of its campus to for-profit businesses, including BioMarin, Ultragenyx, Cellular Dynamics, An2H Discovery Limited, and Excel Venture Management.

Research

The Buck Institute's research program has ten focus areas related to

geriatrics Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek language, Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατ ...

and

longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

. The institute had about 250 staff members as of 2017. Buck Institute conducts its research programs through twenty laboratories that focus on specific subjects. After a 12-year dispute with local animal activists, the institute agreed to limit research to animals no higher than rats and mice; many laboratories use no animals at all. As of 2013, about half of the institute's support came from

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

grants from the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

and other federal agencies. Foundations and private donors contributed another 35% of the funding. An endowment from the Buck Trust Fund provided approximately 15% of the annual budget. Grant revenue in 2015 was $17.4 million, compared to more than $28 million in 2011. In 2015, California researchers opened the world's largest publicly available stem cell bank, with samples stored at the Buck Institute. The initial bank had 300 stem cell lines, with an ultimate goal of 9,000 lines. In 2016, the institute launched a

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

, called Unity Biotechnology First Company, aimed at developing medicines to treat age-related diseases and boost healthy lifespans. One drug developed at the institute,

rapamycin Sirolimus, also known as rapamycin and sold under the brand name Rapamune among others, is a macrolide compound that is used to coat coronary stents, prevent organ transplant rejection, treat a rare lung disease called lymphangioleiomyomatosis, ...

, is being researched by Mount Tam Biotechnologies, a private company named for

Mount Tamalpais Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a mountain, peak in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tama ...

, the highest peak in

, with the institute owning significant legal rights to the drug.

Leadership

The founding president and CEO, Dale Bredesen, now heads the lab focused on

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

research. In July 2010 he was succeeded by

Brian K. Kennedy Brian K. Kennedy is the former President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California. Having started in July, 2010, Kennedy was asked to resign in October 2016. Kennedy's resignation raised serious questions about Buck ...

, who resigned in October 2016. The institute's current president and CEO,

Eric M. Verdin Eric M. Verdin is a Gerontology, geroscientist, researcher, and professor who has served as President and chief executive officer of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging since 2016. Verdin’s research focuses on metabolism, diet, and the diffe ...

, was appointed in November 2016.

Notable faculty

Judith Campisi Judith Campisi is an American biochemist and cell biologist. She is a professor of biogerontology at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. She is also a member of the SENS Research Foundation Advisory Board and an adviser at the Lifeboat Found ...

Heinrich Jasper Heinrich Jasper (21 August 1875 – 19 February 1945) was a German politician (SPD). During the 1920s, he served three terms as regional prime minister (''Ministerpräsident'') of the Free State of Brunswick. He died in the Bergen-Belsen conc ...

* David G. Nicholls

Gallery

File:Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California -- entry sign.jpg, Entry sign for the Buck Institute, on Redwood Blvd. File:Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California -- main entrance.jpg, The main entrance of the Buck Institute File:Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California -- second building, from courtyard.jpg, The second building of the Buck Institute File:Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, California -- main building, from courtyard.jpg, The Administration Building of the Buck Institute, as seen from the courtyard File:Buck Institute - entrance to Drexler Auditorium.jpg, Lobby entrance to Drexler Auditorium, in the Administrative Building File:Buck Institute - inside Drexler Auditorium.jpg, Inside Drexler Auditorium, in the Administrative Building

References

External links

*
Marin Community Foundation website
{{Authority control Gerontology organizations Buildings and structures in Marin County, California Medical research institutes in California Novato, California Non-profit organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area Organizations based in Marin County, California Research institutes in the San Francisco Bay Area I. M. Pei buildings