AFAR is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2026 Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty:
Assistant Professor of the Shu Chien-Gene Lay Bioengineering Department, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego
Established in 2020, the Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty is a one- to two-year award given to junior faculty (MDs and PhDs) to conduct aging-related Omics (GerOmics) research.
Dr. Cyphert’s funded project is titled “Uncovering how reproductive aging influences host-microbe metabolic interactions.” Dr. Cyphert’s research aims to study the types of microbes found in the vagina after menopause and how they function. The goal is to establish clearer guidelines for what a healthy or unhealthy vaginal microbiome looks like in postmenopausal women. This could help doctors provide more accurate diagnoses and better treatments.
Dr. Cyphert’s research brings together a multi-disciplinary team of bioengineers, clinicians, and physician scientists to develop novel imaging and microbial sequencing modalities to understand how microbial structure and function changes with menopause. This is particularly impactful because it uses a systems-level approach combining cutting- edge imaging with omics datasets (metabolomics, metagenomics) to identify microbes and metabolites that can be used in future studies to make mechanistic determinations of vaginal health, based on menopause status.
Learn more about the Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty here.
AFAR is grateful to the Sagol Network for their support of this grant program.
