What inspired you to pursue aging research?
I stumbled into aging research almost by accident. As a second-year medical student, I unexpectedly joined an aging-focused lab that would later become my PhD home. I hadn’t planned on a career in science, but I was instantly hooked by the creativity I could develop in the lab. What made me realize that aging was a field worth studying was discovering how dramatically the rate of aging and longevity can vary between species, yet the molecular pathways that drive aging are remarkably conserved across the tree of life. Some species even show negligible senescence, which completely challenged my assumptions about aging as an inevitable, fixed process. Realizing that aging is a plastic process is what sparked my curiosity, and it has kept me passionate about understanding its biology ever since.
In your view, what does AFAR mean to the field, and what does it mean, for you, to receive an AFAR grant now?
AFAR has been instrumental in shaping the field of aging research. It has helped transform aging from a niche topic into a multidisciplinary discipline by supporting innovative projects and by empowering early-career scientists to pursue ambitious ideas. Beyond funding, AFAR has created a community that drives the field by bridging basic biology, translational, and clinical research. For me, receiving an AFAR grant is profoundly meaningful as it comes at a pivotal moment in my career. I am transitioning from my PhD work on systemic interventions to establishing my postdoctoral research program on the cellular mechanisms of brain aging and neurodegeneration. This award gives me the resources, visibility, and confidence to develop my own experimental approaches and take the first real steps towards independence. Knowing that AFAR believes in my potential is both motivating and validating as I work to establish my future research program in the biology of aging.
What is exciting about your research’s potential impact?
My research tackles a fundamental question in brain aging: how do support cells called astrocytes influence the loss of connections between neurons? Because synaptic loss is one of the strongest predictors of memory decline and dementia, uncovering the role of astrocytes could open entirely new avenues for intervention. To address this, I am using a novel viral labeling method that allows me to fluorescently tag astrocytes and synapses in living brain tissue and directly observe how astrocytes engulf synaptic material. If we learn how aging and cellular senescence alter astrocytes’ ability to maintain brain connections, we may be able to design strategies to preserve synapses, protect cognitive function, and ultimately delay or prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
How would you describe your research to a non-scientist?
Our brain is a highly complex system that requires a tight regulation of the connections between neurons, called synapses. Support cells in the brain, such as astrocytes, help maintain this balance by pruning away unnecessary synapses. With aging, however, astrocytes can undergo changes that may disrupt how they carry out this task. My project studies how aging and cellular changes in astrocytes affect their ability to prune these neural connections. By combining advanced imaging in mice, human brain tissue, and cell culture experiments, I hope to understand how astrocyte-mediated synapse remodeling contributes to brain aging and cognitive decline, and how we might one day slow or prevent it.
