The campus is invited to attend a reception today in celebration of the 90th birthday of Denham Harman, M.D., Ph.D. The reception will take place in the University Tower Private Dining Rooms from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Dr. Harman, UNMC Emeritus Millard Professor of Medicine, is internationally known for his 1954 free radical theory of aging.
The Free Radical Theory of Aging proposed by Dr. Harman 50 years ago laid the groundwork for one of the most well-known and respected theories on the aging process. Known internationally as the father of the free radical theory of aging, he proposed that free radicals, highly reactive molecules freed in the normal chemical processes, cause aging and disease through their destructive actions in cells and tissues. His theory, first ridiculed and dismissed by many in the scientific community, gained support by the 1960s, and by the 1980s was considered one of the principal theories of aging.