Assistant Professor, UConn Health, UConn Center on Aging and the Department of Genetics & Genome Sciences at UConn School of Medicine
Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research - 2022
What inspired you to pursue aging research?
I have seen rapidly growth of the number of people getting older (including my family members and relatives) with reduced quality of life in advanced age due to multiple disease, and huge health expense. The hope is to slow down the aging process really inspires me to pursue aging research.
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 one of the biggest foundations to support aging research. It truly inspires and helps a lot of junior researchers like me to devote to fight with aging process. I am very proud of receiving this AFAR grant, which gives me a lot of motivation and supports. So far, I have received 3 grants from AFAR, which play an essential role for my career development in aging research.
What is exciting about your research’s potential impact?
My research is to examine the role of senescent cells in aging as well as to develop and test the effects of senolytic drugs (which specifically kill senescent cells) for translational purpose. These studies will provide us and others with important information about the role of cellular senescence in aging, and hopefully contribute to the future clinical trials using these drugs to slow down aging in human.
How would you describe your research to a non-scientist?
My research is to find ways to improve quality of life and lifespan in older adults. I am trying to find several therapeutic targets and eventually some interventions to delay the onset of most of diseases as a group and thus increase the healthy lifespan in late life, so the aging population can live healthier and longer.
