Steven N. Austad is the Protective Life Endowed Chair in Health Aging Research, a Distinguished professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 2014 to 2022. After earning a BA in English literature from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, Austad left academia for a number of years during which among other things, he drove a taxi cab in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, worked as a newspaper reporter, and trained lions for television and movies. His interest in biology was awakened by his lion training, and he returned to academics to study biology more formally. He received a BS in biology from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

and his PhD in biology from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

. After postdoctoral research at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, he accepted a position as assistant professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolution Biology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1986. Leaving Harvard as an associate professor in 1993, he moved to the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

where he became full professor. From 2004 to 2013, he was a professor at the

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA, pronounced "U-tesk-uh"), doing business as UT Health San Antonio, is a public academic health science center in San Antonio, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas Sys ...

. He served as interim director of the Barshop Institute before moving to his current position in 2014. Dr. Austad is the Founding Director of the UAB Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, one of only 6 such Centers in the United States. He is also Senior Scientific Director of the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), a New York-based philanthropic organization which supports basic and clinical research and training to support and advance healthy aging. In the past, his research was primarily field-based, particularly with opossums. He discovered that opossums off the predator-free island of

Sapelo Island Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by boat; the primary ferry comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mile (11 ...

lived 25% longer than their cousins on the mainland

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Betting against S. Jay Olshansky, he predicted that there will be someone at least 150 years of age by the year 2150 who was born before 2000. His current research interests include discovering why organisms age at different rates, particularly in especially long-lived organisms such as quahog clams and hydra. He is also interested in studying indicators of animal healthspan as well as the effects of rapamycin on mouse healthspan and sex differences in mechanisms of aging. Dr. Austad's research and teaching have won multiple local, national, and international awards, including the Fifth Nathan A. Shock Award, the Robert W. Kleemeier award, Purdue University Outstanding Alumnus Award, the Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction, the Fondation IPSEN Longevity Prize, and the Caroline P. and Charles W. Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction. He is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2021, he was appointed Protective Life Endowed Chair of Health Aging Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is author of more than 200 scientific articles and more than 150 newspaper columns on science. His book ''Why We Age: What Science Is Discovering about the Body’s Journey Through Life'' has been translated into 8 languages. His new book, ''Methuselah's Zoo: what nature can teach us about living longer, healthier lives'' was released by MIT Press in 2022 and reviewed favorably i
Science Magazine
Between 2012 and 2013, he wrote a series of biweekly columns for the ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1865. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the sta ...

'' called "On Aging". Until recently, he currently wrote a similar biweekly column on science for

AL.com This is a list of subsidiaries of the American media company Advance Publications Inc. Local media groups The following subsidiaries are owned through Advance Local Advance Media New York *''The Post-Standard'' (Syracuse, New York) **Syracuse.c ...

as well as occasional pieces for the Huffington Post. These columns can be found at his websit
www.stevenaustad.com
and a selection of them are available in a book titled ''To Err is Human, To Admit It is Not and other Essays'' (2022).

Bibliography

* * Methuselah's Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us about Living Longer, Healthier Lives (2022) * To Err Is Human, To Admit It Is Not and Other Essays (2022) * Real People Don't Own Monkeys (2022)

References

External links

Homepage at the University of Alabama
ref> {{DEFAULTSORT:Austad, Steven Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American biologists Biogerontologists University of Alabama at Birmingham faculty University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio faculty University of California, Los Angeles alumni California State University, Northridge alumni Purdue University alumni Life extensionists