Dr. An is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Health Sciences at the University of Washington School of Dentistry. Dr. An obtained his DDS degree from the University of Washington in 2016 and his Ph.D. in 2019. He is a UW Magnuson Scholar and recipient of a graduate training award from the […]
Dr. Pharaoh is a postdoctoral scholar studying aging and sarcopenia with a focus on mitochondrial physiology in the Marcinek laboratory. His research interests focus on the role of mitochondrial bioenergetics and superoxide release in aging. Dr. Pharaoh received his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center working with Holly Van Remmen to uncover […]
Ms. Evitts is a Bioengineering graduate student performing her Ph.D. thesis studies in the labs of Jessica Young and Ying Zheng. Her thesis project is focused on developing a stem cell based model of the human neurovascular unit (NVU) to study neurovascular interactions in the brain and investigate neurovascular dysfunction in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Her […]
Mr. Abdiasis is a PhD candidate in the department of biochemistry performing his thesis research in the laboratory of Professor Hannele Ruohola-Baker. He previously studied an intermediate pluripotent step, embryonic diapause, which disrupts the transition from the pre-implantation naïve to post-implantation primed embryonic. He foun that diapause has a distinct lipid metabolic profile compared to […]
Dr. Phil Abitua is an assistant professor in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. The Abitua lab works on annual killifish, an emerging model to study aging due to its remarkable adaptation to an ephemeral environment, which compressed its lifespan to approximately 4-6 months. We are interested in how environmental pressures […]
Innovation in protein design to target aging and age-related disease Dr. Baker has pioneered methods to predict and design the three-dimensional structures of proteins. He is the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professor in Biochemistry and an adjunct professor of Genome Sciences, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, and Physics. He serves as the Director of […]
Decline in blood-brain barrier function during aging Dr. Banks is Professor, Division of Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine and Associate Director for Research of the Puget Sound Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center. The major focus of his research is the study of how the brain and body communicate with one another through the transfer of […]
Genome replication and its role in aging Dr. Bedalov is an Associate Member in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Bedalov is a bone marrow transplant specialist who treats people for blood disorders, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndrome. He runs an active research laboratory that uses S. […]
Dr. Beichman is a postdoc in Dr. Kelley Harris’ Lab at UW Genome Sciences. Her research uses genomics to learn about mutation and demographic history in wild mammals that have experienced extreme demographic events or remarkable evolutionary transitions, including sea otters, bears, and whales. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles […]
The Berg lab studies the effect of mutations that disrupt cell fate and cell migration during development. Using Drosophila as a model system, they explore how gene dysregulation impacts organ structure and function, leading to reduced viability and fertility. The underlying cell and molecular mechanisms involved in these processes also contribute to human disorders, for […]
Dr. Brandon Berry is a postdoctoral researcher in the Kaeberlein laboratory. His research focuses on how aging and metabolism are linked. Brandon is interested in how mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, contribute to and modulate aging. He uses novel tools to precisely control mitochondria to better understand the fundamentals of healthy aging and metabolism. Brandon […]
Role of DNA mutation in aging and cancer Dr. Bielas is an Associate Member in the Translational Research Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and an Affiliate Associate Professor in the UW Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology. He has a long-standing interest in the relationships between aging, mutagenesis, and cancer. His past […]
Dr. Bitto is an Acting Instructor in the Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology. His research is focused on understanding the interaction between biological aging, mitochondrial function, and metabolic disease. Dr. Bitto was a BMHA post-doctoral fellow on the Genetic Approaches to Aging Training Grant from 2013-2016 and is the recipient of a post-doctoral research […]
Dr. Brunet is a Professor of Genetics and Stanford University. She is interested in the molecular mechanisms of aging and longevity, with a particular emphasis on the nervous system. Her lab has made seminal discoveries in identifying pathways involved in delaying aging in response to external stimuli such as availability of nutrients and mates. She […]
Ms. Bugg is an M3D graduate student in Pathology performing her Ph.D. thesis studies in the Davis Lab focusing on how various cardiac fibroblast cell state changes affect cardiac physiology over time. In particular she is focusing on understanding how fluid these changes are and if there is the possibility to revert to a healthy […]
Mr. Coig is a graduate student in the M3D Ph.D. program performing his thesis work in the Promislow lab, studying variation in sexual dimorphism and aging phenotypes. His work is focused on understanding how sex differential pathways and mechanisms contributing to dimorphism in lifespan and healthspan are shifted by natural genetic variation and environmental influences, […]
Dr. Davis is a movement disorder neurologist and researcher at the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System and and Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying the production and spread of pathogenic protein aggregation in aging and aging-related neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson’s […]
Dr. Dhanekula is a current cardiothoracic surgical resident at UW and a postdoc in Dr. Marcinek’s lab. He is studying aging in the aorta; specifically, he seeks to understand the interplay between mitochondrial dysfunction, senescence, and pathology in the aging aorta. He received his MD from Wayne State School of Medicine in Detroit, MI. […]
Dr. Dowsett is a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Dr. Georg Seelig, in the UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. His research focuses on studying the unique genetic differences between single cells in aged organisms, the effects of aging interventions on clonal dynamics, and developing advanced next-generation sequencing tools as part of a […]
Aneuploidy, evolution, and aging. Dr. Dunham develops and applies genomic tools to study genome evolution and genetic variation in yeast and humans. She has a special interest in how gene and chromosome copy number variation contributes to adaptation, the mechanisms by which such variation arises, and the relationship between aneuploidy and aging. They utilize the budding […]
Dr. Eisenberg is a biological anthropologist who studies how evolution has shaped human biology and aging. Dan’s research is primarily on telomere biology and has principally been in collaboration with population-based studies in non-western contexts such as the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey in the Philippines and the Tsimane’ Amazonian Panel Study in Bolivia. […]
Cristina Gildee is a PhD student in the department of Anthropology. She studies osteological health and aging in humans through her joint work with the Primate Evolutionary Biomechanics Lab (PEBL) and the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE) Biodemography Lab. Her work investigates the influence of reproductive effort, physical activity, and immune function […]
Dr. Harris uses population genetic theory and high-throughput biological sequence analysis to study recent evolutionary history in humans and other species. One are of particular interest is the evolution of mutagenesis the forces that control DNA replication fidelity, the mutational breakdown of established traits, and the ultimate origin of new traits. Although DNA is replicated and […]
The Hurley lab focuses on understanding how energy metabolism is controlled in photoreceptors and how this changes with age. In darkness, photoreceptors consume energy rapidly to offset the leakage of ions across the plasma membrane. Light stops that leakage but it introduces qualitatively different energy demands. Dr. Hurley and his colleagues are investigating how the […]
Dr. Janowska is a post-doctoral researcher in the Klevit laboratory. Her interests lie in understanding the biochemistry of the protective mechanisms utilized by proteins to prevent the formation of toxic protein aggregates in the brain. When she is not at work, she enjoys the beautiful Pacific Northwest, either skiing or hiking, and when stationary at […]
Dr. Kathryn A. Jewett, Ph.D. received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Neuroscience from Washington State University. Her graduate work with Dr. James M. Krueger involved looking at the effects of electrical and chemical stimulation on cultured neural networks, correlating features between whole animal brain sleep/wake states and dissociated in vitro neural networks. After graduation […]
Dr. Kaeberlein’s research interests are focused on biological mechanisms of aging in order to facilitate translational interventions that promote healthspan and improve quality of life. He has published more than 200 scientific papers, has been recognized by several prestigious awards, and has Fellow status in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the […]
Dr. Keene received his education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology) and the University of Minnesota (M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience). His post-graduate medical training in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology was at the University of Washington where he earned a faculty position in Neuropathology. Currently, Dr. Keene is […]
Mitochondrial mutagenesis in aging and neurodegeneration Dr. Kennedy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology. Dr. Kennedy has a long standing interest in elucidating how somatic mutations, primarily focused on the mitochondrial genome, influence aging and age associated diseases, such as neurodegeneration. During his post-doctoral training with Dr. Lawrence A. […]
Mr. Kiflezghi is a graduate student in the M3D Ph.D. program and pre-doctoral trainee in the Biological Mechanisms of Healthy Aging Training Program. He is performing his Ph.D. thesis studies in the Kaeberlein Lab, where he has developed and applied novel technology for identifying small molecule inhibitors of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR). As […]
Aging factors in complex heritable conditions. Dr. King’s group uses next generation sequencing approaches to identify genes responsible for complex human conditions. Since the 1970s, her group has exploited approaches from genetics, then molecular biology, then genomics to discover and characterize genes for inherited disease. There are four areas of her work that offer insights […]
Understanding of molecular recognition, and interactions that play important roles in aging and disease Dr. Klevit is the Edmond H. Fischer/WRF Endowed Chair in Biochemistry, an Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology, and Adjunct Professor of Chemistry. Current research in Dr. Klevit’s laboratory is directed towards an understanding of fundamental molecular recognition events involved in the process […]
Dr. Knopp is a postdoctoral researcher working under Dr. William (Bill) Banks and Dr. Michelle (Shelly) Erickson. Her research focuses on blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction during normal aging and in age-related diseases. Dr. Knopp’s main projects include 1) evaluating the age-specific effects of senolytic treatment to protect against BBB-dysfunction; and 2) characterizing the response of […]
As an investigator at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Dr. Kraemer’s research explores how protein aggregation contributes to neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Kraemer has developed animal models of the TDP-43 pathology seen in ALS and the tau pathology seen in Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias using both transgenic mice and transgenic C. elegans. Dr. […]
Dr. Kwon has helped to pioneer new tools and knowledge related to the genetics of skeletal disease and regeneration. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. and a member of the Institute for Stem Cell Regenerative Medicine. He is also a member of the MCB and M3D graduate programs and adjunct […]
Geropathology and mouse models in translational geroscience Dr. Ladiges is Professor of comparative medicine and Director of the Geropathology Research Network and the UW Nathan Shock Center Geropathology Resource. He has extensive experience in the pathobiological evaluation and modeling of mice for preclinical aging and intervention studies and has been a leader in the application […]
Understanding aging through explainable machine learning The Lee lab seeks to develop explainable AI for life sciences. Explainable in this context means understanding which features drive the prediction. The Lee lab has been collaborating with the Kaeberlein lab to develop and apply machine learning to aging biology, with the initial goal of using noisy human […]
Nicole Liachko, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Washington, and a Core Investigator in the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA PSHCS). Dr. Liachko’s research program centers on understanding the biology […]
Ms. Cheyne Littlesun is a MCB graduate student in the Kaeberlein lab, her research focuses on deciphering combinatorial drug interactions in aging biology. Currently she is looking at how a library of chemicals interact with metformin; a possible modulator of longevity now being investigated in humans and the 6th most prescribed drug in the United […]
Applications of mass spectrometry in the biology of aging The focus of Dr. MacCoss’ laboratory is in the development and application of cutting edge mass spectrometry based technologies for the analysis of complex protein mixtures. His primary area of expertise is in protein biochemistry, nanoflow liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry instrumentation, and computational analysis of mass […]
Dr. Marcinek joined the UW faculty in 2006. He has over 15 years of experience developing and applying innovative tools to study mitochondrial biology in chronic disease and aging. A main focus of his laboratory is to understand how age-related changes in mitochondrial function at the biochemical and organelle levels translate to changes in in […]
Dr. Martin has led a long and productive career at the University of Washington, where he received his BS and MD degrees and has been a member of its faculty since 1957. He worked as a surgical pathologist and cytogeneticist in the UW Department of Pathology since 1957, and he served as the founding director […]
Dr. Mendenhall’s laboratory utilizes the nematode C. elegans to understand how and why genetically identical populations of cells and animals in the same environment age differently. How much and what kind of physiological variation is intrinsic/chance based, or is programmed and heritable? The lab takes the approach of directly observing events inside of living cells […]
Dr. Miller’s lab uses C. elegans to define relationships between proteostasis, the responses to hypoxia and hydrogen sulfide, and fasting. This work is also at the crux of understanding the relationships between stress response and aging. She has found that protein homeostasis is disrupted by exposure to specific hypoxic O2 concentrations [66]. One goal of […]
Molecular Basis of Aging The goal of the Moreno lab is to understand how the function and regulation of ion channels change during the natural process of aging. Aging comes with a vast set of impairments, hearing loss, cardiac dysfunction, and hypertension, are only a few on the list. Most of these impairments are caused […]
Research Interest Research in the Morgan lab is focused on the role of mitochondrial function in disease, anesthetic response and aging. We primarily utilize mutants in C. elegans and mice to uncover genetic factors that modulate mitochondrial biochemistry. Selected publications Suthammarak W, Morgan PG, Sedensky MM. (2010). Mutations in mitochondrial complex III uniquely affect complex I in Caenorhabditis […]
Luana Paleologu is working in the Berg Lab on uncovering the signaling pathway of chitinase-like proteins, a class of proteins found to be upregulated in age-associated and inflammatory diseases. She works with fly eggs as a model system to test for genetic interactions and to image protein dynamics. […]
Mitochondrial quality control in aging. Much of Dr. Pallanck’s current work stems from his studies of Drosophila homologs of the Parkinson’s disease-related genes parkin and PINK1. His work on Parkin and PINK1 led to his hypothesis that these factors promote the degradation of damaged mitochondria through mitophagy, a mitochondrial-selective form of autophagy. Work in many […]
Dr. Pomaville is a postdoc in Dr. Philip Abitua’s lab in the Department of Genome Sciences at UW. His research uses the extraordinarily short-lived African killifish to examine the mechanisms regulating the balance of apoptosis and senescence in aging animals. Matt is interested in using cell biology approaches and unique model organisms to explore multiple […]
Dr. Promislow studies natural genetic variation in aging and reproduction. His research is focused on aging in several systems – the fruit fly, companion dogs, and humans. He uses a diversity of approaches in his lab, including molecular and quantitative genetics, evolutionary theory, and systems biology to construct and analyze genetic and metabolomic networks. Among […]
Gene regulation and heritable phenotypic variation in aging The Queitsch lab focuses on two related fields: the genetic architecture of complex traits and the role of gene regulation and protein folding in generating heritable phenotypic variation – including phenotypes of aging. We advance complex trait genetics by ascertaining uncharacterized sequence variation and by resolving the […]
Mitochondrial function and healthspan Peter Rabinovitch has served on the faculty of the Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology since 1983. He has been an active investigator in the biology of aging throughout his career, is the author of over 290 peer-reviewed publications, and is the founding director of the UW Nathan Shock Center of […]
Mr. Raiders is a PhD candidate in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Ph.D. program. He performs his research in the lab of Dr. Aakanksha Singhvi, studying molecular interactions between neurons and their supporting cells, glia, using the small nematode worm, C. elegans. Mr. Raiders studies the pruning of sensory neurons by associated glial cells and […]
C. elegans aging and healthspan extension Dr. Rea is an Associate Professor of Lab Medicine and Pathology. His laboratory utilizes the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to probe the fundamental mechanisms of aging and mitochondrial dysfunction in humans. His research spanning three decades has revealed that nematode lifespan is controlled by a roughly equal mix of genetics, […]
Dr. Reed is Section Chief of Geriatric Medicine at Harborview, Medical Director of the HMC Senior Care Clinic and UW Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. She is also Associate Director of the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program. Dr. Reed’s longstanding interest is in evaluating the effects of the […]
Mechanisms of tissue dysfunction during aging Dr. Regnier is a Professor and Interim Chair of Bioengineering at UW. Dr. Regnier’s research goal is to develop novel approaches to prevent or restore age-related loss of muscle function, such as protein, cell & tissue engineering and gene therapy. Research in the Regnier lab is interdisciplinary and studies […]
Arlan Richardson is the Professor of Geriatric Medicine and the Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair of Aging Research at OUHSC and Senior VA Career Scientist at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. His research interests include Calorie Restriction and Aging, Oxidative Stress, and Molecular Biology of Aging. […]
Genomic instability, cancer and aging The main focus of Dr. Risques’ research is the study of the molecular mechanisms that link genomic instability and aging. The main molecular alterations that her lab studies are telomere shortening, mitochondrial dysfunction, and age-related accumulation of somatic mutations. She has published on comparative analyses of aging relating telomere length […]
Mr. Rossner is a graduate student in the M3D Ph.D. program studying the role of flavin-containing monooxygenase proteins in aging. He is performing his Ph.D. thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Kaeberlein. He was awarded a position on the Genetic Approaches of Aging Training Grant in 2016 and is currently a pre-doctoral trainee in the […]
Adult stem cell aging Dr. Ruohola-Baker’s laboratory studies the molecules and cellular properties that are required for stem cell states and their differentiation capacity. During the recent years the laboratory has shown that microRNAs and the HIF pathway play key roles in regulating adult and embryonic stem cell self-renewal in model organisms as well as […]
Shabnam Salimi is a multidisciplinary scientist studying the mechanism of health span and lifespan. She uses clinical and laboratory tools to define health and multimorbidity as the rate of aging and functional decline and response to stress. Her works evolved around determining clinically and biologically meaningful algorithms that measure the rate of aging, “omics” that track healthspan […]
Dr. Schweppe’s research interests focus on the implementation of millisecond informatics to enable intelligent data acquisition strategies. His research group applies these technologies to quantify proteins as a readout for diverse cell states with broad interests spanning microbial protein interactions, small-molecule binding events, pre-clinical proteomics, and profiling primary tissue samples. Dr. Schweppe’s research group builds […]
Research Interest The Sedensky laboratory is using two model systems to understand multiple ramifications of mitochondrial dysfunction. Lifespan and neurodegeneration are two areas under active investigation. A long standing focus is understanding how mitochondrial function controls behavior in the volatile anesthetics. Selected publications Falk MJ, Kayser EB, Morgan PG, Sedensky MM. (2006). Mitochondrial complex I function […]
We are interested in understanding how biological organisms process information using complex biochemical networks and how such networks can be engineered to program cellular behavior. The focus of our research is the identification of systematic design rules for the de novo construction of biological control circuits. Our approach integrates the design of molecular circuitry in the test tube […]
Dr. Singhvi’s lab investigates the role of glia in neural function, aging and disease. Our nervous system has two major cell types, glia and neurons, in about equal numbers. Glia communicate with neurons to modulate neuron shape and function, and thereby neural circuit activity and animal behaviors. To define the molecular basis of neural aging, […]
Dr. Suh is a Professor of Reproductive Sciences (in Obstetrics and Gynecology) and a Professor of Genetics & Development at Columbia University. Her research focuses on application of cutting edge technology to investigate the genetic and epigenetic components of aging and aging-related disease. […]
Dr. Mariya Sweetwyne (she/her) is a Cell Biologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP) in the UW School of Medicine. She earned a B.S. in Zoology and a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Washington, followed by a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University […]
Cardiac metabolism and mitochondrial energetics The Tian Lab studies cell metabolism and mitochondrial function in living systems. Our goal is to improve cellular resistance to environmental stresses and diseases through engineering metabolism. […]
Dr. Tsantilas is a postdoctoral fellow in Michael MacCoss’ laboratory in the Genome Sciences Department. She completed her PhD in the laboratory of James B. Hurley in the UW Biochemistry Department, where she studied metabolic activity in young, healthy retinas and examined how aging affects these norms. Her research as a postdoctoral fellow uses different […]
Lindsey is a PhD candidate in the Bush lab. Her research involves developing novel crosslinking mass spectrometry methods and working with Rachel Klevit’s lab to apply these methods to the study of small heat shock proteins (sHSPs). sHSPs are chaperones that prevent aging associated protein aggregation. Using the reagent benzoylphenylalanine, she developed a targeted crosslinking method. She […]
Age-associated changes in synaptic non-coding RNAs Dr. Valdmanis joined the University of Washington as an Assistant Professor in 2017. His lab studies genetic risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and gene therapy methods for therapeutic intervention. Through a series of studies focusing on long-read sequencing of the genome […]
Dr. Villen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Genome Sciences. She earned her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona. During her postdoc at Harvard Medical School she was involved in several technology developments that enabled the robust characterization of thousands of phosphorylation sites: from biochemical methods to mass spectrometry acquisition strategies […]
BiographyOscar Vivas, Ph.D., is a Junior Faculty in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington. Dr. Vivas is interested in understanding how aging alters the autonomic nervous system. Why the autonomic nervous system? As we age, we perceive a decline in our ability to maintain constant internal conditions (homeostasis) at rest […]
Dr. Wang has served as a biostatistician in the UW EDGE Center, the UW Center on Human Development and Disability, and UW Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. Dr. Wang has provided experimental design consultation, rigorous statistical analysis, and multi-omics data analyses (including transcriptomics, genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics) to numerous […]
Yan is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Biology at the University of Washington,Seattle. She is a neuroscientist interested in the evolutionary and social dimensions of senescence. She uses emerging invertebrate model systems, such as the bee and the octopus, to investigate how the nervous system organizes, encodes, and mediates end-of-life transitions and death. Her […]
Dr. Whitson was a post-doctoral fellow in the Genetic Approaches to Aging Training Program from 2017-2019. He is currently a post-doctoral scientist in Dr. Rabinovitch’s laboratory. […]
Dr. Wills joined the UW Biochemistry faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2015. Her research is focused on understanding the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of regeneration using the diploid frog Xenopus tropicalis as a model organism. Loss of regenerative capacity is a fundamental aspect of aging biology. The Wills lab uses high-throughput sequencing approaches (RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, ATAC-Seq) […]
Dr. Young joined the UW faculty in 2016 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology. Her research goal is to understand the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying age-related disorders, with a particular focus on neurodegenerative disorders. She has developed human stem cell models to further this line of research, as […]