Anti-ageing scientist ‘told intern to sleep with donors’
A BRITISH scientist in Silicon Valley known for trying to reverse the effects of ageing has been suspended by his company after he allegedly ordered an intern to have sex with potential company donors.
London-born Aubrey de Grey, chief science officer at SENS Research Foundation, was also accused by another woman of predatory behaviour.
Celine Halioua, 26, the founder and CEO of Loyal, a biotech start-up, posted online about her encounters with Mr de Grey. Ms Halioua, who had been an intern at SENS in 2016, alleged that company executives exploited her to solicit funds from donors.
Ms Halioua described a dinner in which Mr de Grey, 58, allegedly told her that she had a responsibility to have sex with the SENS donors in attendance so they would give money to the company. “I left that dinner sobbing,” she wrote. “It has taken me years to shake the deep-seated belief that I only got to where I am due to older men wanting to have sex with me.”
Mr de Grey, a former Harrow pupil and Cambridge graduate, is the foremost advocate of the idea that medical technology will one day allow humans to control the ageing process.
Another woman, Laura Deming, the 27-year-old founder of the Longevity Fund, described encounters with Mr de Grey that took place when she was 17.
“He told me in writing that he had an ‘adventurous love life’,” she wrote in a blog published yesterday. “I almost left the field several times as a teenager because of stuff like this happening.
“I didn’t expect a trusted mentor I’d known since childhood to hit on me so blatantly, and insinuate that it had been on his mind for a while.”
Mr de Grey was put on administrative leave by SENS pending the outcome of an investigation into the claims.
He posted on Facebook yesterday:
“Unsurprisingly, I deny these allegations. What may be more surprising to you is this: my belief is that both Laura and Celine have been deceived into the view that I have done many things that I have in fact not done.”
Lisa Fabiny, acting executive director at SENS, said in a statement: “We respect the integrity of this investigative process, and it would not be appropriate to speculate on the outcomes while the process remains ongoing.”