What inspired you to pursue aging research?
I was inspired to pursue aging research because there are many questions that still need to be answered. Aging affects us all; understanding the brain mechanisms behind it will have numerous applications to human lives and human diseases. I approach aging from my own area of expertise in memory, seeking to answer a few questions out of the endless questions we still have about what aging is, how it happens, and the myriad ways it affects us.
In your view, what does AFAR mean to the field, and what does it mean, for you, to receive an AFAR grant now?
AFAR provides necessary funding for researchers like me, who are seeking to understand aging from a variety of perspectives. This grant provides me the means to apply my expertise in neuroscience and the neuronal mechanisms of memory to answer questions about aging that may provide invaluable insights into new research directions and, ultimately, into understanding and treating memory declines in humans.
What is exciting about your research’s potential impact?
The most exciting aspect of my research’s potential impact is that it may provide new avenues to treat the cognitive and memory declines that accompany aging.
How would you describe your research to a non-scientist?
Memory is a complex process that is always updating and changing and is based on groups of neurons in the brain. By imaging these groups of neurons as new memories are made and old memories are updated, we can understand how memories work, and more importantly, what goes wrong with our memory ability, on a neuronal level, as we age.
