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Thank You for Making the 7th Alcor Conference a Success!

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We hope all our conference attendees enjoyed the 7th Alcor Conference, from the lively discussions to the food selections, sleeping rooms, and beautiful Arizona weather. The event could not have been a success without our attendees, and so we thank them all for supporting our mission!

The 7th Alcor Conference DVD set is still in production, but it can be ordered now for only $39.95 plus shipping – a special sale price only available for a limited time. Order yours now to receive this 20% discount.

Anyone interested in reading more about the conference is encouraged to view these blogs:

Frontier Channel
People Database Project
Fight Aging
TechNewsWorld

We hope to see everyone at the 8th Alcor Conference!

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CR Society Conference

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The fifth CR Society Conference will be held at Sunset Station in San Antonio, TX. The Conference will run from Wednesday November 7 through Sunday November 11, 2007.

The Conference will open with a welcoming reception/registration on Wednesday evening November 7 starting at 6:30 pm. The presentations will start Thursday November 8 at 9:00 am and end Sunday Sunday November 11 at 11:00 am.

The Conference webpage:
http://www.calorierestriction.org/conferences-2007

Sunset-Station
http://www.sunset-station.com/home.html

Map of Sunset-Station and our hotels
http://www.sunset-station.com/abouthss/locationmap.html

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7th Alcor Conference, Sunday Morning Sessions

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Special Guest Writers: John Schloendorn & Simone Syed

Sunday began with a panel discussion about the ethics of life and death, the relationship between cryonics and critical care medicine, and about the definition of death, which has profound implications for cryonics. The panelists were critical care physician David Crippen, Alcor COO Tanya Jones, and bioethicist Leslie Whetstine. Next, Steven Harris, MD introduced his perfluorocarbon-based rapid body cooling system, which has applications in cryonics and emergency medicine. Calvin Mercer, PhD addressed the relationship between religion and life extension practices, such as cryonics. Christine Petersen then provided a survey of existing life extension technologies, and, finally, Chris Heward, PhD wrapped up with an in-depth account of the aging measurement experiment being conducted at Kronos Science Laboratory.

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7th Alcor Conference, Saturday Afternoon Sessions

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Special Guest Writers: John Schloendorn & Simone Syed

The afternoon session featured several illustrious speakers from the fields of nanotechnology and stem cell research, which would seem indispensable for successful revival from cryopreservation. The session began with an introduction to molecular nanotechnology from Ralph Merkle, PhD, which may one day allow us to rebuild damaged structures molecule-by-molecule. Mike West, PhD, of Advanced Cell Technology, discussed how one day we may be able to reassemble lost human tissues and organs cell-by-cell. Finally, Aubrey de Grey, PhD, most well-known for his Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) (a strategy to cure human aging by repairing the damage it does to the human body), provided an intriguing account of whether it is politically safe for a biologist to support cryonics publicly. Speaking from his own experience, Aubrey’s conclusion is no, it is not safe at all, but hiding it is a lot more dangerous!

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7th Alcor Conference, Saturday Morning Sessions

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Special Guest Writers: John Schloendorn & Simone Syed

The 7th Alcor conference was held from Friday, October 5th to Sunday, October 7th in the Hilton Scottsdale Resort. The venue featured a level of luxury greater than a dewar, to say the least!

Friday evening began with a reception on the Hilton patio with light drinks and food. Also on Friday, Alcor public policy consultant Barry Aarons gave an introductory speech summarizing the recent progress of Alcor’s status as a research entitity in Arizona. Indeed, within only four years, Alcor has progressed from being existentially threatened by the state government, to being perceived as an accepted research and technology institute furthering the public good. We are all grateful to Barry and the Alcor leadership for their excellent public relations work that made this possible. The next step should be to strengthen Alcor’s relations with other leading biotechnology institutions in Arizona and to begin collaborations with efforts like the Biodesign Institute in Tempe, or the Bio5 in Tucson. In the long term, this should establish Alcor as an indispensible part of Arizona’s sprawling academic and industrial biotechnology network.

Saturday morning’s sessions featured talks from key individuals working to create and improve existing human cryopreservation technologies and processes. One of the first speakers, Brian Wowk, PhD, Senior Physicist at 21st Century Medicine, took us through the technical challenges and successes in cryopreservation research. Next, Alcor Executive Director Stephen Van Sickle gave us an overview of the research and process developments at the Alcor facility. Finally, Tanya Jones provided an in-depth look at current and future improvements in Alcor procedures and equipment.

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From September Membership Report

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On August 31, 2007, Alcor had 829 members on its Emergency Responsibility List. Four memberships were approved during this month, no memberships were reinstated, no memberships were cancelled and no members were cryopreserved. Overall, there was a net gain of four members this month. Currently, there are 712 cryopreservation members and 77 patients.

Alcor has 38 applicants for membership. There were 155 information packets mailed and 10 were handed out during facility tours. The average total of 119 info packs sent per month in 2007 is compared to 164 in 2006.

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From September Marketing Report

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7th Alcor Conference
Attendance for the 7th Alcor Conference is good at about 100 attendees, though not a large as 2006. The crowd make-up is very similar to last year, in that only about half of the registrants are already members of Alcor. The next conference will be likely be held in 18-24 months. Thanks to our sponsors this year, who contributed $14,000 in support of this event: Life Extension Foundation, Michael Fleischmann, Patrice Levin & Nigel Kell, Immortality Institute, Hospice of the Valley, Cryonics Property LLC, Andrew Popper, Novamente, The Longevity Meme, Betterhumans, The Calorie Restriction Society, and Rudi Hoffman.

Events
Alcor had a presence at the Singularity Summit held in Stanford, California, and Dragon-Con held in Atlanta, Georgia. Literature about Alcor was distributed at both events, and a panel presentation was conducted at the latter.

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From September Financial & Accounting Report

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As of mid-July, invoices over 90 days past due tallied nearly $73,000. This is believed to be primarily the result of having changed to email-only invoices about a year ago. After a mailing explaining the billing difficulties, the past due amount was reduced to around $50,000 by late-August. Incoming payments dropped off at that point, so collection calls were made to the remaining members with a balance over 90 days past due.

Alcor’s 2006 taxes have been completed. Interviews of several local firms have concluded and are final proposals and references are being collected for presentation to the board of directors, who will select the firm to conduct Alcor’s annual review and/or audit.

Probate Matters
The A-2309 last-minute case is in a state of limbo because of the lack of an executor for the estate. There is no one to carry out the decedent’s wishes. Several strategies are being discussed with our attorneys.

The A-1097 probate also continues. Renovations on the property bequeathed to Alcor are complete and the house is listed for sale at a competitive price. Our realtors recently held the first open house. Alcor was informed this month that it is the beneficiary listed on this patient’s IRA account and the funds can be distributed independent of the probate proceedings.

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From September Research & Development Report

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The whole body vitrification system is in the final stretches. This project has turned out to be more complex than anticipated, but the end result is expected to be truly extraordinary. The new system will be the most advance human cryopreservation system in the world, with complete integration and control of the relevant cryopreservation parameters, cooling, operator feedback, safety systems, and graceful failure modes. Testing will be just beginning in early October, but an excellent demonstration will be offered during the 7th Alcor Conference open house.

Additional progress is being made in the custom fabrication of a heat exchanger for use with perflurocarbon cooling and the evaluation of a new integrated cardiopulmonary bypass system for the air transportable perfusion (ATP), which has the promise of significantly reducing the size and weight of the system for stabilization and transport.

Clinical Update
Bigfoot 12 is now ready to accept patients. The filling manifold has been extended to include the new dewar and the fill gauge built and installed. This dewar may be sent back to the manufacturer for re-wrapping of the insulation. The Bigfoot-1 repair continues. Hugh Hixon has pumped down the vacuum in the dewar for over 1,500 hours, reaching the temperature of 210 degrees C, in an attempt to remove the water collected in the system. Vacuum pressure has been reduced to 6 microns and is holding steady. It will continue to be pumped down until it is stable for two weeks, and then it will be tested with nitrogen.

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Meet Cryonics Members & Supporters in Chicago, IL Area!

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Paul Battista would to start a cryonics group to meet on a regular basis in the Chicago, IL area.

The primary purpose for these meetings would be to provide opportunities for like-minded people to discuss topics of interest pertaining to cryonics and related fields.

If you are interested in building a sustainable cryonics community in the Chicago, IL area please email Paul at: .