Contact: Will Sansom
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James R. Smith, Ph.D., was honored for his lifetime achievement in aging research.
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The Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, welcomed several national speakers in the field of aging research to the AT&T Teleconference Center Aug. 3 for a scientific symposium to recognize the lifetime contributions of Barshop member James R. Smith, Ph.D.

Dr. Smith, professor in the department of pathology, occupies the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Chair in Aging Research at the Health Science Center.

The visiting dignitaries honoring Dr. Smith included Leonard Hayflick, Ph.D., of The University of California, San Francisco, who originated the concept of the Hayflick Limit of cellular senescence, which holds that normal cells spontaneously stop dividing at a certain number. In humans, that number is about 50.

Presenters also included George M. Martin, M.D., of The University of Washington, Seattle. He has published seminal studies in many areas of aging, including cell senescence, Alzheimer’s disease and Werner’s syndrome.

Upbringing and early career
Dr. Smith grew up in rural Central Missouri and earned his bachelor’s degree in physics in 1963 at The University of Missouri at Rolla.

After two years of work with an aircraft company, he went to Yale, where he earned his Ph.D. in molecular biophysics. In 1970, he moved to Berkeley, Calif., to join Dr. Hayflick studying cell senescence. While he was there he met Olivia Pereira-Smith, Ph.D., who became his wife.

From 1975 to 1983, he was on the roster of scientists at the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. In 1983, he moved to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he and Olivia remained until 2001, when they were recruited to the Barshop Institute and basic science departments, respectively, in San Antonio.

Major impact
Dr. Smith made an indelible mark on the field of cell senescence, which is the study of the processes that slow and ultimately stop cell division. His discovery of p21, a factor that decreases DNA replication, was particularly seminal, but in typical Smith fashion, he declined to take credit, rather emphasizing his laboratory team.

His research honors in the field of gerontology included the Glenn Award, the Allied Signal Award and the Kleemeier Award.

Barshop Institute Director Arlan G. Richardson, Ph.D., professor of cellular and structural biology, honored Dr. Smith for establishing the institute’s cell senescence program and a second novel program — the Center for Comparative Biology of Aging.

Clues in life spans
“He had the idea for a program to compare the life spans in animals, he obtained a National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant to do it, and recruited experts including Steven Austad, Suzette Tardif and Shelley Buffenstein,” said Dr. Richardson, also a South Texas Veterans Health Care System senior research career scientist. “We have developed a unique program in comparative biology, and it is all due to Jim Smith’s thoughts in that area.”

Symposium guest Huber Warner, Ph.D., longtime director of the Biology of Aging Program at the NIA until he recently joined The University of Minnesota, said Dr. Smith was one of his mentors in the establishment of the Biology of Aging Program, which has brought millions of dollars of research funding to the Health Science Center. He noted that Dr. Smith served a four-year term on the prestigious NIA Advisory Council.

A servant leader
Symposium organizer Peter Hornsby, Ph.D., professor of physiology and Barshop Institute member, recalled his 15-year collaboration with Dr. Smith’s groups at Baylor College of Medicine and the Health Science Center. “Jim has been one of the best leaders of a group I have known,” Dr. Hornsby said. “He leads by consensus, and his personality enables people to work together.”

Barshop Institute member James Nelson, Ph.D., professor of physiology, agreed that Dr. Smith “put people first, including his students. He always made sure it was like a family.” Dr. Smith was honored for his lifetime achievement upon his retirement from the Health Science Center at the end of August.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $536 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields.