Alcor Hits the Ground Running –Jan 2025 Newsletter

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Dear Members and Friends, 
 
2025 kicked off with a flurry of activity at Alcor. From handling wildfire emergencies and outfitting our new engineering space, to diving into kidney research and planning upcoming events – the year is already keeping us on our toes. Here’s what’s been happening behind the scenes:  

⚡ TLDR 

  • California wildfires hit close to home 
  • Take the new member readiness survey 
  • Lab got some fancy new toys 
  • New podcast episode on Alcor Europe 
  • Raising for Western Canada emergency kit 
  • Looking for someone to run Scottsdale meetups 
  • Alcor headlining Frozen Dead Guy Days 
  • Alcor joins Biostasis Conference at Vitalist Bay 
  • CEO visits members in California 
  • Latest cryonics news roundup

🚨 California Wildfires 

This month, the California wildfires struck uncomfortably close to home. One Alcor member lost their home, and several others had to evacuate. Shelby and the medical team maintained continuous communication with our members, ensuring everyone had a safe place to go and a reliable contact in case conditions worsened. 

It’s worth noting that fire-related cases are especially tough for cryopreservation. The damage is often severe, and recovering a patient in a fire zone is a logistical nightmare. Take those evacuation warnings seriously, folks. 

Thankfully, everyone made it through safely. Houses we can rebuild – but it’s a good wake-up call about having those emergency plans ready and keeping your cryonics provider in the loop. 

📝 Member Readiness Survey 

Speaking of keeping us in the loop – there’s a new member readiness survey making the rounds. Takes about five minutes to fill out, but it helps us understand and track different risk levels among our members. The DART team uses this info to prepare for various scenarios, making sure we can respond quickly when needed. Help us help you – take a moment to fill it out here

🚀 R&D Updates 

The science and engineering wings are buzzing with activity as new equipment arrives. Thanks to our generous donors, we’re getting kitted out with some serious gear. (Still plenty left on the wishlists though – hint hint.)

🔬 The Lab  

  • Nick and Wonjin are making solid progress with their kidney preservation work. After several cryopreservations of pig kidneys, they’re doing their first normothermic (body temperature) perfusions with red blood cells next week. This is the next step to start testing viability of the organs before and after cryopreservation. 
  • Next week brings another upgrade as well- the new CT scanner is being installed (finally). This will allow us to do a lot more research regarding the quality of cryopreservation. For example, scanning kidneys or patients before and after cool down. Changes in density measured by the CT scan will tell us how well vitrification really occurred throughout the tissues/organs/brains etc. 
  • The lab’s steadily transforming with all the new equipment. Centrifuges, freezers, tissue culture incubator, laminar flow hood – the works. In a couple months we should be able to begin research on cells and tissue slices (like brain slice cultures) to test their survival and function post cryopreservation and the effects of different CPA’s (cryo-protective agents).  

🛠️ Engineering  

  • Over in engineering, Jacob and Steve shared some clever work they’re doing. They’re using this fancy 3D printer to make custom surgical equipment. Get this, it uses biomedical-grade resin! So cool. Turns out much of the off-the-shelf stuff costs a fortune and isn’t quite right for many cryonics use cases anyway. Win-win. 
  • The new engineering wing continues to take shape. Slowly but surely, they’re inching closer towards being fully operational, with much of the essential equipment having already been put in place. Keep it up!  

👋Community Outreach 

👥 Connecting with Members 

Alcor CEO James Arrowood spent last week visiting members across Northern California. Over coffee and meals, he sat down with both long-time and newer members. He noted to me how consistently impressed he is by just how accomplished the individuals who make up Alcor’s membership are. 

 Scottsdale Meetups 

If you’re around Phoenix – we’re looking for someone local to restart the regular unofficial Alcor meetups. The previous organizer is now safely cryopreserved in Alcor’s care (talk about dedication), so it would be nice to get some new volunteers to keep the tradition going. Drop Shelby a line if you’re interested at [email protected]

🎙️ New Podcast Episode 

A new Alcor Podcast episode just dropped. This time, we’re diving into plans for Alcor Europe. Our International Development Coordinator, Jeremy Wiggins, joins James Arrowood to chat about why Sweden is the top pick for a new facility and what this means for our European members. 

Subscribe to it on Apple PodcastsSpotify, or wherever you listen—or just hit play on our webpage.   

🇨🇦 Western Canada Emergency Kit 

The Western Canada folks need some help. They’re trying to put together a $70k emergency kit that includes a complete equipment stack, M22 cryoprotectant, and essential medications. Designed to support neuro and whole-body cases, having this equipment on hand will greatly improve response times and care quality in western Canada. If you’re a Canadian Alcor member (or you just really really like Canadians), please consider funding this kit in part or in full. You can contribute at our directed donation page (and mention it’s for this) or contact [email protected] 

📅 Mark Your Calendar (2025)

💀 Frozen Dead Guy Days (March 14-16th) 

Alcor is the title sponsor this year! Bredo Morstoel, the original ‘Frozen Dead Guy,’ was recently relocated to Alcor’s satellite facility at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado and will be the focal point for the festival. https://frozendeadguydays.com/ 
 
If you’ve never been to this festival, you’re missing out—it’s quirky, fun, and the perfect place to introduce cryonics to a curious mainstream audience. Plus, word on the street is that Alcor CEO James Arrowood fearlessly volunteered to take on the dreaded “Polar Plunge”- worth the trip if for only that! Don’t hesitate to email him with words of encouragement! 😇  
 
Pro tip: Book your Stanley Hotel room now—Alcor members get a discount and free museum tour.  

🗣️ Biostasis Conference @ Vitalist Bay (May 17-18th) 

The team behind the Global Cryonics Summit in Miami is now spearheading the Biostasis Conference at Vitalist Bay, an eight-week longevity pop-up city in Berkeley, California. Often seen as an outsider, cryonics will now take center stage in the broader longevity conversation. Alcor is showing up in full force with CEO James Arrowood, Director of Research Nick Llewellyn, and board member Ralph Merkle. Click here to check out their website and stay tuned for a full launch announcement in the near future. 

💬 Alcor Monthly Board Meeting (Feb 8th at 11am MST) 

Wanna spend your precious Saturday morning discussing the finer details of Alcor’s inner workings? We do too! 🤓 Join us here! 

✨ Not an Alcor Member Yet? 

No pressure, but if you’ve been thinking about it… new year, new you? The signup link is right here.  
 
Did you click it? I’ll know if you don’t… 👀 

📌 Cryonics News Roundup  

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