What inspired you to pursue aging research?
My inspiration is rooted in a personal experience with my nearly 90 year old grandparents, whose struggles with age-related conditions, particularly sarcopenia and frailty, have had a profound impact on me. Seeing how even minor stressors, like inpatient surgeries or infections, could trigger rapid declines in their physical and cognitive health made me acutely aware of the complexities of aging. This experience fuelled my curiosity about the biological mechanisms underlying these changes. As I delved into the field as a graduate student, I became fascinated by the intricate interplay of the cellular and molecular processes that contribute to aging. Now as a Postdoc in the Lamming Lab at UW-Madison, I aim to explore how dietary manipulations, coupled with exercise and/or geroprotective drugs extend lifespan & healthspan in vivo, with the eventual goal of providing translatable outcomes to humans.
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 a cornerstone in the field of aging research, especially for early-career scientists like myself. It’s not just about funding; AFAR represents a commitment to advancing innovative and groundbreaking research that has the potential to reshape our understanding of aging. The organization provides a critical platform for researchers to explore novel and high-risk projects that might otherwise struggle to find support, helping to accelerate the pace of discovery in aging science. For me, receiving an AFAR grant is truly career-defining. It provides the resources, recognition, and collaboration needed to build a strong foundation for a series of in-depth, follow-up studies that could span multiple years and form the basis of long-term postdoctoral fellowship applications, and the eventual pathway to an independent academic research career.
What is exciting about your research’s potential impact?
The field of “Geroscience” and “Gerotherapeutics” is evolving rapidly, and it's an exciting time to be involved in aging research, particularly here at UW-Madison. In the Lamming Lab we are positioned at the cutting edge of developing innovative interventions aimed at enhancing both healthspan and lifespan. This grant will allow for an incredible postdoc training opportunity bringing together world-leading labs at UW-Madison and across the USA to comprehensively profile and map the molecular response to isoleucine restriction alone and in combination with exercise in young and aged skeletal muscle.
How would you describe your research to a non-scientist?
My research is focused on understanding how different diets, exercise, and potential anti-aging drugs can help people live longer, healthier lives. Specifically, I study how limiting certain nutrients, like specific amino acids, and using medications that target aging-related pathways, can improve the health of vital organs such as the liver, muscles, and fat tissue. One of the many exciting aspects of my work involves looking at how these interventions affect the way different organs in the body communicate with each other. For example, I explore how the liver, muscles, and fat tissue send signals to each other and how these signals might change when we adjust diet or use specific drugs. By using advanced analysis techniques and mouse models, my goal is to figure out how these changes can improve overall health and extend the healthy years of life.
