Leading anti-aging event set to feature blockchain as part of core programming

Crypto conferences have continued to take the world by storm, being the epicentre for revolutionary concepts, gathering places for headline speakers, and entertainment for the wider population, with side events featuring the world's most-known celebrities. With so much attention being drawn to these events, many organizations have recognized their impact in not only promoting cryptocurrencies themselves but also in demonstrating the asset’s utility in other industries.

Consider some examples. In the most recent 2022 Grammys, the world saw a prestigious music award ceremony also become the location of thought-provoking discussions on NFTs. Not to mention, The World Economic Forum's Davos event ended up focusing on the power of blockchain and Web3.0. Taken together, events like these prove that those beyond the crypto community care about what the blockchain means for their future.

The Longevity Science Foundation is another one of the organizations embracing the power of crypto and discussing it in related events, like the Ageing Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) conference, to help fund longevity research. The event, which has occurred for nine consecutive years, will be held in Copenhagen from August 29th to September 2nd, where hundreds of in-person attendees and thousands of virtual ones are expected to attend. 

Here, emerging technologies are designed to play a central role to the program while simultaneously exemplifying the ins and outs of the ageing process.

Funding scientific breakthroughs

While initially, the ARDD conference was born out of the need to understand the basic mechanisms of ageing, including why humans develop diseases, get old and why there is yet to be a way around it, it has grown into a place to carry forward life-changing research.

Dr. Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, one of the leaders of event, shares one of these findings, stating,

"One of the big breakthroughs in the field is that we can now measure biological aging accurately, so-called biological clocks. You have people who look younger than they are or look older than they are. We have different age speeds. We can measure people's biological speeds by measuring various biomarkers … It's a big breakthrough."

But, although Scheibye-Knudsen was originally focused on the basic science of longevity, he was no stranger to the role that business played in getting breakthroughs out of the lab and into testing. Naturally, this progression requires capital, which coincidentally had become a significant obstacle to many advancements in the field.

That being said, it isn't big pharma alone that will make the difference in funding. It is also the involvement of emerging technologies like crypto that are aiding this growth. Emerging tech workshops at ARDD will include discussions of new ways to fund research and track progress using decentralized technology.  Therefore, as part of the upcoming ARDD conference, participants can expect a focus on medicine, venture capital for investors and panels on blockchain to be factored in the mix alongside longevity science. 

As a result, joining Scheibye-Knudsen is Alex Zhavoronkov, the leader of the AI-powered drug discovery firm Insilico Medicine and major contributor to Longenesis, a company known for using blockchain technology to streamline medical data sharing for research and trials. Zhavoronkov then becomes an original perspective on embracing emerging technologies to advance the field of longevity and providing new opportunities for funding.

Bringing communities together

Looking ahead, ARDD will continue to bring people together for productive conversations and move major breakthroughs forward. At present, crypto has already proven itself as a valuable player in funding research and tracking progress, and that is just scratching the surface.

With several synergies noted between these two sectors, such as growing interest in each, it is expected that attendance in events like these will continue to grow, and so will their surrounding communities.