Gregory Michael Fahy is a California-based cryobiologist,

biogerontologist Biogerontology is the sub-field of gerontology concerned with the biological aging process, its evolutionary origins, and potential means to intervene in the process. The term "biogerontology" was coined by S. Rattan, and came in regular use wi ...

, and businessman. He is the Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at

21st Century Medicine 21st Century Medicine (21CM) is a California cryobiological research company which has as its primary focus the development of perfusates and protocols for viable long-term cryopreservation of human organs, tissues and cells at temperatures be ...

, Inc, and has co-founded ''Intervene Immune'', a company developing clinical methods to reverse immune system aging. He was the 2022–2023 president of the

Society for Cryobiology The Society for Cryobiology is an international scientific society that was founded in 1964. Its objectives are to promote research in low temperature biology, to improve scientific understanding in this field, and to disseminate and aid in the ap ...

Education

A native of California, Fahy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

and a PhD in

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

and

cryobiology Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science. The word cryobiology is derived from the Greek words κρῧος ryos "cold", βίος ios "life", and λ ...

from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He currently serves on the board of directors of two organizations and as a referee for numerous scientific journals and funding agencies, and holds 35 patents on cryopreservation methods, aging interventions, transplantation, and other topics.

Career

Fahy is the world's foremost expert in organ cryopreservation by

vitrification Vitrification (, via French ') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non- crystalline or amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses possess a higher degree of connectivity ...

. Fahy introduced the modern successful approach to vitrification for

cryopreservation Cryopreservation or cryoconservation is a process where biological material - cells, tissues, or organs - are frozen to preserve the material for an extended period of time. At low temperatures (typically or using liquid nitrogen) any cell ...

in cryobiology and he is widely credited, along with William F. Rall, for introducing vitrification into the field of

reproductive biology Reproductive biology includes both sexual and asexual reproduction. Reproductive biology includes a wide number of fields: * Reproductive systems * Endocrinology * Sexual development (Puberty) * Sexual maturity * Reproduction * Fertility H ...

. In 2005, where he was a keynote speaker at the annual Society for Cryobiology meeting, Fahy announced that 21st Century Medicine had successfully cryopreserved a rabbit kidney at −130 °C by vitrification and transplanted it into a rabbit after rewarming, with subsequent long-term life support by the vitrified-rewarmed kidney as the sole kidney. This research breakthrough was later published in the peer-reviewed journal ''Organogenesis''. Fahy is also a

and is the originator and Editor-in-Chief of ''The Future of Aging: Pathways to Human Life Extension'', a multi-authored book on the future of

biogerontology Biogerontology is the sub-field of gerontology concerned with the biological aging process, its evolutionary origins, and potential means to intervene in the process. The term "biogerontology" was coined by S. Rattan, and came in regular use wi ...

. He currently serves on the editorial boards of ''

Rejuvenation Research ''Rejuvenation Research'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Mary Ann Liebert that covers research on rejuvenation and biogerontology. The journal was established in 1998. The current acting editor-in-chief is Ben Zealle ...

'' and the ''Open Geriatric Medicine Journal'' and served for 16 years as a Director of the

American Aging Association The American Aging Association is a non-profit, tax-exempt biogerontology organization of scientists and laypeople dedicated to biomedical aging studies and geroscience, with the goal of slowing the aging process to extend the healthy human li ...

and for 6 years as the editor of ''AGE News'', the organization's newsletter.

Research

As a scientist with the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

, Fahy was the originator of the first practical method of cryopreservation by vitrification and the inventor of computer-based systems to apply this technology to whole

organs In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...

. Before joining Twenty-First Century Medicine, he was the chief scientist for Organ, Inc and of LRT, Inc. He was also Head of the Tissue Cryopreservation Section of the Transfusion and Cryopreservation Research Program of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

where he spearheaded the original concept of ice blocking agents. In 2014, he was named a Fellow of the Society for Cryobiology in recognition of the impact of his work in low temperature biology. In 2015–2017, Fahy led the TRIIM (Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) human clinical trial, designed to reverse aspects of human aging. The purpose of the TRIIM trial was to investigate the possibility of using recombinant human

growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in ...

(rhGH) to prevent or reverse signs of immunosenescence in ten 51‐ to 65‐year‐old putatively healthy men. The study:

Observed protective immunological changes, improved risk indices for many age‐related diseases, and a mean epigenetic age approximately 1.5 years less than baseline after 1 year of treatment (−2.5‐year change compared to no treatment at the end of the study).

Awards

Fahy was named as a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

in 2014, and in 2010 he received the Distinguished Scientist Award for Reproductive Biology from the Reproductive Biology Professional Group of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. He received the Cryopreservation Award from the International Longevity and Cryopreservation Summit held in Madrid, Spain in 2017 in recognition of his career in and dedication to the field of

. Fahy also received the Grand Prize for Medicine from INPEX in 1995 for his invention of computerized organ cryoprotectant perfusion technology. In 2005, he was recognized as a Fellow of the

Publications

* The Future of Aging: Pathways to Human Life Extension * Death and Anti-Death, Volume 8: Fifty Years After Albert Camus (1913-1960)

References

External links

21st Century MedicineIntervene Immune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahy, Gregory Living people University of California, Irvine alumni 21st-century American biologists Medical College of Georgia alumni Biogerontologists Cryobiology Year of birth missing (living people)