First Annual Symposium
Mitochondrial Health, Healthspan, & Aging
Date & Location
Thursday, September 25, 2025 (8 am – 6 pm)
Robertson Auditorium, Mission Bay Conference Center
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
Organizing Committee
Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. Robert Naviaux, Dr. Sundeep Dugar
Speakers
Robert Lustig, MD, MSL
Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology at the University of California at San Francisco. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Blue Oak Nutraceuticals, Inc; author of several best-selling books including Fat Chance, Hacking of the American Mind, and Metabolical.
Talk: The New Energy Crisis
Andrew Dillin, Ph.D.
Talk: Mitokines: A Metazoan Invention to Coordinate Mitochondrial Form and Function
Phillip Dumesic, MD, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in the Diabetes Center at University of California, San Francisco. His research has been supported by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Talk: Regulation of oxidative capacity through privileged mRNA translation
Elissa Epel, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at University of California, San Francisco. Director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center, Associate Director of the Center for Health and Community and the NIDDK UCSF NORC, member of the National Academy of Medicine, and past President of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and Co-Chair of the Mind and Life Institute Steering Council.
Talk: Stress, hormesis, and healthy longevity
Mark Mattson, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience, John Hopkins University School of Medicine and Former Chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health.
Talk: Cyclic Metabolic Switching, Mitochondrial Plasticity, and Brain Health
Robert Naviaux, MD, Ph.D.
Founder of the UCSD Mitochondrial and Metabolic Disease Center (MMDC). He discovered the cause of Alpers syndrome, and part of the team that reported the first mitochondrial DNA mutation to cause genetic forms of autism.
Talk: Mitochondria and the emerging science of salugenesis
Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, Ph.D., FRCP(C)
McMaster Children’s Hospital / Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation Chair in Neuromuscular Disorders, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Division Head of Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Disorders, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Canada, CEO & CSO, Exerkine Corporation.
Talk: Exercise and Nutritional Interventions are the only proven Strategies to Extend Human Healthspan and Lifespan
Sundeep Dugar, Ph.D.
Pharma drug discovery expert with over 35 years of experience in small-molecule drug discovery and development in oncology, inflammation, the central nervous system, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Co-inventor of best-selling drugs Zetia® (ezetimibe) and Vytorin® (ezetimibe/simvastatin).