What inspired you to pursue aging research?
I first became interested in reproductive aging as a graduate student in Dr. Pam Geyer’s lab at the University of Iowa, where I investigated how fertility is maintained in adults. We found that mutations in the fly homologue of emerin causes sterility by premature death of germline stem cells that give rise to sperm and oocytes. In humans, mutations in emerin cause premature aging syndromes, expanding my view of the cellular mechanisms by which parental age intersects with fertility. This is an important area of research as the age of parenthood increases worldwide. We’ve known for a long time that advanced parental age has the potential to compromise sperm and oocyte quality. Yet, we know little about how parental age impacts the germline of the next generation, which have fundamentally different biology from the other cells in the developing embryo. I am excited to use my expertise in the full germline lifecycle to close this knowledge gap.
In your view, what does AFAR mean to the field, and what does it mean, for you, to receive an AFAR grant now?
I am incredibly grateful and thrilled to have the support of AFAR for me, my team and this project. This is a critical stage in my career as I build a team and develop the research that will shape my program for years to come. To have support for a project near to my heart from such a prestigious organization as AFAR is a transformative boost deeply appreciated by me and my team at our Hispanic-serving institution, where we strive to demonstrate that anyone can make impactful contributions to our field.
What is exciting about your research’s potential impact?
I’m excited to complete this project for two principal reasons. We simply don’t understand how parental age affects the germline of the next generation. The results from this work will provide an initial study, which can foster a new area in the reproductive aging field. Moreover, our data suggests that scientists studying germline development should precisely control for parental age, allowing for more rigorous and reproducible fertility studies.
How would you describe your research to a non-scientist?
We are interested in understanding factors that support and compromise fertility. Here, we use our expertise in the full lifecycle of reproductive germline cells to determine how parental age impacts germline development in the next generation, which we expect will give us new insights into reproductive aging.
