ARDD history and evolution
ARDD — the Aging Research, Drug Discovery and AI Forum — began in 2014 as an affiliated track within the Basel Life event in Basel, Switzerland. Edition numbers confirmed directly from organizer pages (6th in 2019, 9th in 2022, 10th in 2023, 11th in 2024, 12th in 2025) are internally consistent with a 2014 founding year. The event became an independent, self-standing forum based at the University of Copenhagen by at least 2022, growing into a multi-day, multi-track meeting spanning aging biology, drug discovery, AI, and longevity medicine. For 2026 (its 13th edition), the venue moves to Harvard University (David Rubenstein Treehouse) in Cambridge, Massachusetts — its first confirmed venue change outside Europe. For the full narrative with sourced quotes and era-by-era detail, see history.ardd.ai (also available as a single plain-text file at history.ardd.ai/history.txt).
Year-by-year comparison §
| Year | Edition # | Venue | Notable tracks/additions | Detail page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13th | David Rubenstein Treehouse, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA | Program TBA | /2026 |
| 2025 | 12th | University of Copenhagen, Denmark | Main Track; Longevity Medicine Track; Physics in Aging Biology; Emerging Science & Technologies Workshop; Startup Pitch; Replacement in Aging Workshop; Molecular Nutrition Workshop | /program/2025, /speakers/2025 |
| 2024 | 11th | Copenhagen, Denmark | Longevity Medicine Track; Emerging Tech Workshop; Physics in Aging Biology; XPRIZE Healthspan Team Summit | agingpharma.org/ardd2024 |
| 2023 | 10th | Copenhagen, Denmark | Longevity Medicine Track; Longevity Medicine Day; Emerging Tech Workshop | agingpharma.org/ardd2023 |
| 2022 | 9th | Copenhagen, Denmark | — | agingpharma.org/ardd2022 |
| 2021 | — | — | Video archive available | agingpharma.org/2021 |
| 2020 | — | — | Video archive available | agingpharma.org/2020 |
Edition numbers for 2022 (9th), 2023 (10th), and 2024 (11th) are confirmed directly from each year's official ARDD edition page ("Welcome to the Nth Aging Research and Drug Discovery Meeting"); 2025 (12th) is confirmed from the organizer's travel grant page ("Three travel grants will be available for junior scholars for the 12th ARDD"); 2026 (13th) follows by consecutive numbering. These are all consistent with a 2014 founding year. Editions 2020 and 2021 have video archives but no independently confirmed edition number in the sources fetched for this page. See history.ardd.ai for the full derivation and the Basel Life-era (2014–2019) founding narrative.
Recurring themes across editions §
- Aging biology fundamentals (DNA repair, senescence, epigenetics) have been present in every edition.
- The Longevity Medicine Track and Physics in Aging Biology track are now recurring fixtures, appearing in at least the 2023-2025 editions.
- AI/computational content has expanded substantially: 2025 introduced dedicated "Foundation Models for Aging Biology" and "Virtual Cells" sessions within the Emerging Tech Workshop.
- Investor programming (early-stage and growth-stage panels) and the Startup Pitch competition are consistent fixtures connecting the scientific program to biotech investment.
- Insilico Medicine's Alex Zhavoronkov has been a consistent co-organizer/chair of the Longevity Medicine Track.
What attendees say §
ARDD has an unusually strong and consistent testimonial record across 2022-2025 editions from senior figures in the field. Representative quotes (source: agingpharma.org homepage testimonial archive):
- "The finest aging meeting there is for bringing diverse stakeholders together." — Steve Austad, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- "The biggest event not just in aging research, but perhaps, in biomedical science in general." — Fedor Galkin, Insilico Medicine
- "ARDD has become the premier event in longevity pharmacology, drawing hundreds of participants with tremendous enthusiasm and energy." — João Pedro de Magalhães, University of Birmingham
- "We are at a pivotal moment... I found ARDD to be the nexus where diverse perspectives converge, accelerating this progress." — Albert-László Barabási, Northeastern University
- "Once again, ARDD has proven to be the best longevity conference of the year." — Brian Kennedy, National University of Singapore
Full testimonial archive: agingpharma.org homepage.
Using ARDD as an organizational reference §
Based on the documented 2025 edition, ARDD's structure can be summarized as: a multi-day event combining (1) a plenary Main Track with keynotes, short talks, and investor panels; (2) parallel full-day dedicated tracks (Longevity Medicine, Physics in Aging Biology, Emerging Science & Technologies) each with their own chairs and session structure; (3) a Startup Pitch competition with an investor jury; (4) structured networking (meals, coffee breaks, poster sessions) woven between talks rather than left informal; and (5) a tiered sponsorship model (five tiers plus knowledge/education and media partner categories) that funds the event while keeping it academically credible. Travel grants for junior scholars are offered with an abstract-submission mechanism and are paired with a short talk slot, which is a notable mechanism for early-career inclusion.