Greg Fahy
Gregory M. Fahy is a California-based cryobiologist, biogerontologist, and businessman. He is Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Twenty-First Century Medicine, Inc, and has co-founded Intervene Immune, a company developing clinical methods to reverse immune system aging.[1] He is the 2022–2023 president of the Society for Cryobiology.[2]
Greg Fahy | |
---|---|
Born | Gregory M. Fahy California, US |
Occupation(s) | cryobiologist biogerontologist businessman |
Education
A native of California, Fahy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of California, Irvine and a PhD in pharmacology and cryobiology from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.[3]
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.[4][5][6] Fahy introduced the modern successful approach to vitrification for cryopreservation in cryobiology[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and he is widely credited, along with William F. Rall, for introducing vitrification into the field of reproductive biology.[10][15]
In 2005, where he was a keynote speaker at the annual Society for Cryobiology meeting, Fahy announced that Twenty-First 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.[6]
Fahy is also a biogerontologist 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.[16] He currently serves on the editorial boards of Rejuvenation Research and the Open Geriatric Medicine Journal and served for 16 years as a Director of the American Aging Association and for 6 years as the editor of AGE News, the organization's newsletter.
Research
As a scientist with the American Red Cross, 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. 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 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.[17]
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 (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).[1]
Awards
Fahy was named as a Fellow of the Society for Cryobiology in 2014,[18] 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 cryobiology. 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 American Aging Association.
References
- Abbott, Alison (September 5, 2019). "First hint that body's 'biological age' can be reversed". Nature. 573 (7773): 173. Bibcode:2019Natur.573..173A. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02638-w. PMID 31506619. S2CID 202159998.
- "Leadership". Executive Director and Officers 2020–2021. Society for Cryobiology. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- "Gregory M. Fahy, Ph.D." Business Management Team. Twenty-First Century Medicine. 1999–2008. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- Fahy GM, Wowk B, Wu J, Phan J, Rasch C, Chang A, Zendejas E (2004). "Cryopreservation of organs by vitrification: perspectives and recent advances" (PDF). Cryobiology. 48 (2): 157–178. doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2004.02.002. PMID 15094092.
- Fahy GM, Wowk B, Wu J (2006). "Cryopreservation of complex systems: the missing link in the regenerative medicine supply chain" (PDF). Rejuvenation Research. 9 (2): 279–291. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.539.7419. doi:10.1089/rej.2006.9.279. PMID 16706656.
- Fahy GM, Wowk B, Pagotan R, Chang A, Phan J, Thomson B, Phan L (2009). "Physical and biological aspects of renal vitrification". Organogenesis. 5 (3): 167–175. doi:10.4161/org.5.3.9974. PMC 2781097. PMID 20046680.
- Michael J. Taylor; Ying C. Song; Kelvin G.M. Brockbank (2004). Vitrification in Tissue Preservation: New Developments In: Life in the Frozen State (B.J. Fuller, N. Lane, and E.E. Benson, Eds.). CRC Press. pp. 603–641. ISBN 978-0-415-24700-9.
- Fahy, G.M.; Hirsh, A. (1982). Prospects for Organ Preservation by Vitrification. In: Organ Preservation, Basic and Applied Aspects (D.E. Pegg, I.A. Jacobsen and N.A. Halasz, Eds.). Springer. pp. 399–404. ISBN 978-0-85200-418-0.
- Fahy GM, MacFarlane DR, Angell CA, Meryman HT (1984). "Vitrification as an approach to cryopreservation". Cryobiology. 21 (4): 407–426. doi:10.1016/0011-2240(84)90079-8. PMID 6467964.
- Rall WF, Fahy GM (1985). "Ice-free cryopreservation of mouse embryos at -196 degrees C by vitrification". Nature. 313 (6003): 573–575. doi:10.1038/313573a0. PMID 3969158. S2CID 4351126.
- Fahy GM (1986). "Vitrification: a new approach to organ cryopreservation". Progress in Clinical and Biological Research. 224: 305–335. PMID 3540994.
- Fahy, Gregory M. (May 16, 2002). "Vitrification versus Freezing of Organs". Science E-Letter responses. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
- Fahy, G.M.; Rall, W.F. (2007). Vitrification: An overview. In: Vitrification in Assisted Reproduction: A User's Manual and Troubleshooting Guide (J. Liebermann and M.J. Tucker, Eds). Informa Healthcare. ISBN 978-0-415-40882-0.
- Mullen, S.F.; Fahy, G.M. (February 28, 2011). Fundamental aspects of vitrification as a method of reproductive cell, tissue, and organ cryopreservation. In: Principles & Practice of Fertility Preservation (Donnez, J., and Kim, S.S., Eds.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19695-6.
- "Cryopreservation of embryos". The Lancet. 1 (8430): 678. 1985. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(85)91336-4. PMID 2858625. S2CID 45190786.
- Gregory M. Fahy; Michael D. West; L. Stephen Coles; Steven B. Harris, eds. (October 2010). The Future of Aging: Pathways to Human Life Extension. Springer. ISBN 978-90-481-3998-9.
- "Science & Business Management Teams". 21st Century Medicine. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- "Newsnotes June 2014". Society for Cryobiology.