What inspired you to pursue aging research?
The scientific interests of our lab have naturally moved us towards the aging field. We are broadly interested in understanding the molecular logic that underlies cellular decision-making. Our work on these fundamental questions led us to uncover a novel pathway that controls how and when cells undergo programmed cell death. This insight therefore provides a unique opportunity to study and potentially control one of the major causes of age-related disease, cellular senescence.
In your view, what does AFAR mean to the field, and what does it mean, for you, to receive an AFAR grant now?
The research proposed here represents a new direction for my laboratory, both as we begin to tackle the application of our work to the aging field and explore the clinical relevance of our research. An AFAR grant would therefore give us the opportunity to develop this high-risk yet high-reward project to the point where it would be competitive for federal funding. This will help provide the momentum necessary to establish myself as an independent investigator at this critical stage of my career.
What is exciting about your research’s potential impact?
I have always been motivated by research that pushes the frontier of knowledge in fundamental, yet poorly understood areas of biology. The project proposed here exemplifies this type of basic research, but is particularly exciting to me because of its direct clinical relevance. The opportunity to develop the more translational aspects of my research program is a particularly unique aspect of this award.
How would you describe your research to a non-scientist?
The research in our lab seeks to understand how cells regulate the complex molecular decisions that underlie biological life. Many of these decisions are dictated by the synthesis, degradation, or localization of molecules known as proteins. Our goal is to understand how these processes work in healthy cells, so that we can apply this knowledge to manipulate cell fate when dysregulated by disease, injury, or aging.
