Associate Director of Corporate Development at SonoThera. Maria Konovalenko is a Scientist in Residence at Formic Ventures, a diversified venture capital firm that makes early stage investments in biotechnology startups focused on human longevity as well as technology startups and companies that make human lives more meaningful. Maria’s obtained her PhD in biology of aging in a joint program between University of Southern California and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Her research was focused on aging of stem cells in respiratory epithelium as well as the overlap between mTOR signaling and cellular senescence. Maria has been involved in fighting aging since 2008. She is one of the organizers of the Genetics of Aging and Longevity Conference series. Maria was part of team at the science for Life Extension Foundation, a Moscow-based non-profit, since 2008 to 2016 and has been raising funding for longevity and regenerative medicine research from both government and private sources. Maria's background is in molecular biophysics, she got both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Maria's goal is to make people live as long and as healthy as possible using the advances of science and technology.