What inspired you to pursue aging research?
Globally, the aging population is increasing. Effective and affordable age-related disease management is going to become an increasingly high priority for the aging population and our healthcare and economic systems. So, the world needs experts to address the scientific challenges posed by increased longevity and to protect the needs of this cohort.
In my graduate research, I established a new link between stress response and cancer that identified many longevity factors, including FoxO, which spurred my interest in the biology of aging. In addition, I have always been interested in how signaling and gene regulation changes with time to increase the risk of age-related diseases.
In your view, what does AFAR mean to the field, and what does it mean, for you, to receive an AFAR grant now?
AFAR is doing an incredible job bringing awareness to the public and scientific community about aging research by conducting monthly interviews and webinars on aging related topics. AFAR’s support for both clinical and basic biomedical research in the aging field shows innovative and forward-thinking leadership in achieving their goals of increasing healthspan for older adults.
The AFAR Glenn Postdoctoral fellowship in Aging Research 2023 is a turning point in shaping my career. I have recently begun my research journey in the aging field and will pursue an independent research career studying the sex differences in the aging brain. Therefore, the interdisciplinary training I will receive as a Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellow will provide a strong professional foundation for achieving my long-term goals. Furthermore, the AFAR conference will be an outstanding interactive environment for me to discuss my research with others. Exchanging feedback with fellow awardees and eminent experts in aging research will also help me to build my network as I establish myself as an independent investigator in the aging field.
What is exciting about your research’s potential impact?
Humans display persistent sexual dimorphism in their cognition and psychopathology during aging. Sex-specific aging occurs across species and many age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, are more common in one sex than the other. Unfortunately, despite the cutting-edge research in the neurodegenerative disease field, the mechanisms by which sex differences affect the aging brain remain understudied. Defining sex differences during brain aging represents an opportunity to improve diagnosis and clinical detection, and provide targeted treatment and management of age-related neurological disorders for both sexes.
How would you describe your research to a non-scientist?
Aging and multiple human diseases, including neuro-degeneration, affect females and males differently. Changes in neuronal plasticity-related genes such as those regulating synapses affects learning and memory and therefore causes the aging process. Dosage compensation (DC) is a genetic process which ensures that both female (two X chromosomes) and male (only one X chromosome) cells have equal levels of gene products. X-chromosome DC has been shown to be the most affected during the aging brain and it also regulates several genes involved in the proper functioning of the nervous system. My research aims to understand how it functions and brings sex differences during brain aging. Understanding these sex differences during brain aging represents an opportunity to improve diagnosis, clinical detection, better treatment, and efficient management of age-related neurological disorders equally for both males and females.
