NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Methuselah Foundation awarded Z. David Sharp, Ph.D. with a special "Mprize" for the first pharmaceutical intervention to successfully extend the life of laboratory mice. The study, published this summer in the journal Nature, showed that when aging mice were given the drug rapamycin, they lived longer than other mice. Dr. Sharp is from the University of Texas.
Methuselah Foundation presented the special Mprize Lifespan Achievement Award to Dr. Sharp at a ceremony on Thursday, October 8th at the Friars Club in New York City. Presenters included Dave Gobel, CEO Methuselah Foundation, Roger Holzberg, CEO My Bridge 4 Life, Huber Warner, University of Minnesota and Keith Murphy, CEO Organovo. Dr. Max Gomez, broadcast journalist, served as emcee for the event.
Dr. Sharp said he was "honored, thrilled and humbled by this recognition." He went on to thank Methuselah Foundation's Scientific Advisory Board and its Board of Directors for this "tremendous honor."
Dave Gobel, CEO of the Foundation said, "Methuselah Foundation is happy to honor Dr. Sharp's work because it begins to shed light on the potential for late-onset interventions via a pharmaceutical and has the potential for some very positive public messaging about the importance of aging research."
Methuselah Foundation is a non-profit medical charity dedicated to extending healthy human life. Supported by the donations of individuals and organizations, the programs of Methuselah Foundation include near, mid and long term strategies that advance the mission of ending age-related disease through awareness, education, scientific research and direct community outreach. For more information please go to: www.methuselahfoundation.org