Vera Gorbunova is an endowed Professor of Biology and Medicine at the University of Rochester and a co-director of the Rochester Aging Research Center. Her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of longevity and on the studies of exceptionally long-lived mammals. Dr. Gorbunova pioneered comparative biology approach to study aging. She elucidated the mechanisms that control evolution of tumor suppressor mechanisms. She uncovered the function of the longevity gene Sirtuin 6 in regulating genome stability across species. She demonstrated the role of transposable elements in driving age-related inflammation.  Her work received awards of from the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Glenn Foundation, AFAR, and NIH. Her work was recognized by the Cozzarelli Prize from PNAS, prize for research on aging from ADPS/Alianz, France, Prince Hitachi Prize in Comparative Oncology, Japan and Davey Prize from Wilmot Cancer Center.