Eric Verdin is the president and chief executive officer of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. The institute, based in Novato, Northern California, is America's first and largest independent body focussed on the biology of aging. Until recently, Dr. Verdin was a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, in San Francisco, where he studied the role of metabolism and diet in aging. A world-renowned expert in the field, Dr. Verdin is trying to better understand the mechanisms linking caloric restriction to increased health span and longevity.