Some scientists are beginning to view biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey’s approach — looking at aging as a disease and bringing in more disciplines into gerontology — as worthwhile.

His Methuselah Foundation now has an annual research funding budget of several million dollars, de Grey says, and it’s beginning to show lab results that he thinks will turn scientists’ heads.

Starting Friday, the Methuselah Foundation, is sponsoring its first U.S. conference, Understanding Aging, on the emerging interdisciplinary field that de Grey has helped kick start. On Friday, Methuselah-funded scientists will demonstrate a proof-of-concept experiment for using bacterial enzymes to fight atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries, an idea that de Grey has been pushing for years.