News
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging announced new class of pilot grant awardees
LA JOLLA – The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, a consortium between the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and the University of California San Diego, has announced its fifth-year class of pilot grant awardees. Three recipients from two institutions received up to $50,000 to pursue research that advances our understanding of how humans age, with the ultimate goal of extending the number of years of healthy, disease-free life (i.e. health span).
Aging is the most consequential risk factor for human disease. Individuals age at different rates, and even specific cells and tissues within a person age differently. This depends on intrinsic properties, including genetics and where cells are in the body, and extrinsic factors, like exposure to environmental toxins and pathogens. Understanding this variability, this “heterogeneity”, and how it contributes to overall human aging, risk for disease, or therapeutic responses is the theme of the SD-NSC and the focus of these pilot grant awards.
”Bringing new investigators into the SD-NSC to tackle the complexity of aging and receive scientific and career mentoring is our most exciting function,” says Salk Professor Gerald Shadel, who is the Audrey Geisel Chair in Biomedical Science and Director of the SD-NSC. “I very much look forward to seeing these three cutting-edge projects unfold over the next year.”
This year’s pilot grant awardees are:
Exploring sexual dimorphism in aging-associated changes of pelvic skeletal muscle stem cells
UC San Diego
Decoding the aged stem cell ecosystem in regeneration and tissue repair
UC San Diego
Exploring mTOR activity & immune cell interactions in the aging ovary using spatial transcriptomics
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Grant recipients receive subsidized access to the SD-NSC Research Resources Cores (shared research facilities), necessary reagents/supplies, and access to training opportunities offered by the Center and its core facilities. They will also be paired with an expert in the aging-research field, who will provide career mentoring and guidance to ensure project success.
Pilot Grant Awardees are also invited to attend the SD-NSC’s 3rd Annual Symposium on The Heterogeneity of Aging, to be held March 26, 2025, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The exciting day will feature presentations by Dr. Hongkui Zheng of the Allen Institute, Dr. Tony Wyss-Coray of Stanford University, Dr. Adam Salmon of the Barshop Institute at UT Health San Antonio, and Dr. Lingyan Shi of UC San Diego, as well as the SD-NSC 2023 Pilot Grant Awardees. There will also be opportunities to learn more about the Center’s Research Resource Cores, Research Development Core, and the upcoming 2025 Pilot Grant call. Further event details will be forthcoming and can be found here.
Through a J.E.D.I. Lens (Vol. 1 Issue 1): Healthy Aging & Community
By Jálin B. Johnson, director of the Office of Equity & Inclusion at the Salk Institute, and Salk Professor Gerald Shadel, Audrey Geisel Chair in Biomedical Science and director of the San Diego-Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging
Healthy Aging
Unlocking Healthy Aging, this year’s theme at the Salk Institute, allows us all to explore what this means to the many communities Salk scientists and staff identify with and are advocates for. After reviewing a 2014 study published in the journal Gerontologist and titled “Successful Aging Among LGBT Older Adults: Physical and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life by Age Group,” we came together to consider some of the intersections of 2SLGBTQIA+ lived experiences and successful aging through a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion lens.
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24th Bay Area Aging MeetingTuesday, May 14, 2024 |
Bay Area Aging Meetings are sponsored by the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research. The symposia rotate across host institutions, including Gladstone Institutes/UC San Francisco, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and the Buck Institute. Meetings are open to the public.
Representative faculty members from each institution, who are experts in the aging field, organize the meetings. These one-day gatherings consist of oral and poster presentations by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from universities and institutes in the Bar Area, who are conducting research on the biology of aging and age-related disease. Meetings often feature a keynote lecture from a faculty member. The meeting format is designed to maximize networking among participants.
Please visit the BAAM website for additional details, registration and the program.
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging announced its fourth-year class of pilot grant awardees
LA JOLLA – The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, a consortium between the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and the University of California San Diego, has announced its fourth-year class of pilot grant awardees. Recipients from four different institutions received up to $20,000 to pursue research that advances our understanding of how humans age, with the ultimate goal of extending the number of years of healthy, disease-free life (i.e. health span).
Aging is the most consequential risk factor for human disease. Individuals age at different rates, and even specific cells and tissues within a person age differently. This depends on intrinsic properties, including genetics and where cells are in the body, and extrinsic factors, like exposure to environmental toxins and pathogens. Understanding this variability, this “heterogeneity”, and how it contributes to overall human aging, risk for disease, or therapeutic responses is the theme of the SD-NSC and the focus of these pilot grant awards.
”We are excited to bring these six new biology of aging investigators into the San Diego Nathan Shock Center and the biology of aging field,” says Salk Professor Gerald Shadel, who is the Audrey Geisel Chair in Biomedical Science and Director of the SD-NSC.
This year’s six pilot grant awardees are:
2023 SD-NSC Pilot Grant Awardees
Building a holistic framework to explore cancer in aging
Mayo Clinic
Spatial assessment of cellular heterogeneity in aging
Princeton University
Profiling age-dependent T cell fate heterogeneity and dysfunction
Mayo Clinic
The accelerated aging effect: Unmasking cellular hallmarks in Huntington’s Disease
UC San Diego
Contributions of circadian disruption to the heterogeneity of brain aging
UC San Diego
Investigating the transcriptional and epigenetic heterogeneity in mammary glands during healthy aging and tumorigenesis
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Grant recipients receive subsidized access to the SD-NSC Research Resources Cores (shared research facilities), necessary reagents/supplies, and access to training opportunities offered by the Center and its core facilities. They will also be paired with an expert in the aging-research field, who will provide career mentoring and guidance to ensure project success.
Pilot Grant Awardees are also invited to attend the SD-NSC’s 2nd Annual Symposium on The Heterogeneity of Aging, to be held March 6, 2024, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The exciting day will feature presentations by Dr. Vera Gorbunova of the University of Rochester, Dr. Nicola Neretti of Brown University, Dr. Morgan Levine of Altos Labs, and Dr. Peter Sudmant of UC Berkeley, as well as the SD-NSC 2022 Pilot Grant Awardees. There will also be opportunities to learn more about the Center’s Research Resource Cores, Research Development Core, and the upcoming 2024 Pilot Grant call. Further event details will be forthcoming and can be found here.
2023 Symposium of the UC San Diego Center for Healthy Aging
Friday, October 6, 2023
9:30 am – 4:00 pm
This day-long event is open to the public and will include keynote lectures by Laura Carstensen, PhD, Director of the Stanford Center of Longevity and S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as many other panel discussions.
Click here for more information and to register for this free event »
Rancho Bernardo residents’ health data has helped researchers for 50 years
July 26, 2023
Gerald Shadel, along with Anthony Molina and Judith Kritz-Silverstein presented at the 50th anniversary event of the longstanding Rancho Bernardo Study on Healthy Aging. They are working with the Shock Center, which is a collaboration between the Salk Institute, UC San Diego and Sanford Burnham Prebys. Together they are leveraging the long-running human study to enable cellular research on diversity of aging. The Shock Center now collects patient samples from the Rancho Bernardo cohort in an effort to develop human cell models of aging for use by the aging research field, officials said.
Read more in The San Diego Union Tribune »
NIA “Summer” Training Course in Experimental Aging Research
June 8, 2023
The 30th Annual Summer Training Course, hosted by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the OR Genonscience Center for Healthy Brian Aging in Oklahoma City, OK, provides intense exposure to current concepts in experimental aging research for approximately 20 research scientists. It is designed primarily for junior faculty and advanced fellows with at least two years postdoctoral experience in cell or molecular biology or a related field. Senior scientists who wish to learn about current aging research are also welcome to apply.
No course free: Travel and accommodations are sponsored by funds from the National Institute on Aging, and meals are sponsored by a grant from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research.
Course dates: September 10-15, 2023
Application Deadline: June 16, 2023
For additional details, please see here for course flyer.
San Diego Nathan Shock Center – Pilot Grant Funding Opportunity
May 15, 2023
The Research Development Core of the San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) is requesting applications for its Pilot Grant program. This opportunity is for junior investigators studying the basic biology of aging, and for established investigators seeking to join this important field of research.
Up to $20,000 per project will be awarded to six (6) projects to support research into the Heterogeneity of Aging by taking advantage of the scientific services offered by the SD-NSC Research Resource Cores. In addition, the center will provide awardees access to training workshops and career development opportunities, and cover expenses to travel to the San Diego Center to attend and present their work at the SD-NSC Symposium on Heterogeneity of Aging. Awardees will also be paired with an established SD-NSC investigator or SD-NSC affiliate investigator who will provide feedback and help ensure project success.
Proposals are due on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
Awardees will be notified in early October 2023 via email.
For more information and to submit your application please visit the SD-NSC website.
San Diego Nathan Shock Center 2023 Symposium on the Heterogeneity of Aging – A Success!
April 12, 2023
After previous years workshops, the San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, held its inaugural symposium in late March 2023. Tackling the Heterogeneity of Aging symposium, featured presentations from outstanding researchers in the Aging field, including Dr. Michael Snyder (Stanford University), Dr. Rozalyn Anderson (University of Wisconsin), Dr. Berenice Benayoun (USC), Dr. Rafael de Cabo (NIH-NIA). SD-NSC Pilot Grant Awardees, also presented their work and had a dedicated time to meet their SD-NSC mentors.
Please visit our symposium archive for more information about the event and to watch Dr. Michael Snyder’s talk: “Remote health monitoring using microsampling and wearables”.
WEBINAR | Considerations in the Study of Sex as a Biological Variable in Aging Research
February 2, 2023
This webinar featured a panel of aging researchers who study sex differences with expertise in omics, human data, behavioral/neurological research, and the Intervention Testing Program. Each panelist briefly shared general considerations for experiments within their area of expertise. After the presentations, there was a Q&A with the audience.
This webinar is aimed to:
- Share perspectives and ideas on why and how to study sex differeces in aging
- Provide information on how to control experimental design correctly
- Emphasize how sex differences are an important consideration for experimental design
View webinar recording here: https://vimeo.com/795609023
Telomeres, mitochondria, and inflammation oh my! Three hallmarks of aging work together to prevent cancer
February 8, 2023
Find Salk’s recent press release here to learn more on the discovery of how telomeres and mitochondria communicate to promote inflammation opens new possibilities for preventing and treating cancer and other harmful consequences of aging.
UCSD Center for Healthy Aging and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging 2023 Pilot Grant Program
The Center for Healthy Aging and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging (CHA/SIRA) is an integrated, multi-disciplinary, cross-campus group that aims to advance and promote health and well-being in the field of healthy aging through research, education, and community outreach. The purpose of the pilot funding is to foster early-stage research focused on ideas that are related to the study and promotion of healthy aging. These awards are designed to help investigators generate pilot and feasibility data to support future extramural grant applications.
The focus on these pilot projects should be related to: 1) Understanding the factors that impact healthy aging; or 2) Advancing innovative strategies for promoting aging.
Eligibility: All UC San Diego faculty members can apply for Pilot funds. Early career investigators, and those new to aging research, are particularly encouraged to apply. UCSD postdoctoral fellows and individuals with pending faculty appointments must include a letter of support from a faculty mentor.
Submission: Proposals should be submitted electronically to healthyaging@ucsd.edu.
Deadline for Submission: April 30, 2023, at 5pm PST.
More details on the call for proposals can be found here or at https://healthyaging.ucsd.edu/research/pilot-program.html
HIV & Aging Research Consortium: New RFA for 2023
The purpose of this program is to promote multidisciplinary research into in Geroscience and HIV by bridging research excellence between CFAR, OAIC, NSC, and MBI and to develop the next generation of HIV Geroscience translational researchers. Proposals with an emphasis on the emerging field of Geroscience and its application in HIV will be the focus. 2-4 pilot grants will be funded up to $40,000 total cost per grant.
Eligibility: Any early stage investigator or any stage Gerontology faculty who are new to HIV research. Post-doctoral fellows must be faculty on or before July 1, 2023 to apply.
HARC 2023 RFA Webinar to be held December 2nd, 2022. Find more information and reserve your spot here.
Concept Proposals are due January 13, 2023, by 5:00 PM PST.
Full Proposals are due February 24, 2023, by 5:00 PM PST
For full RFA details, please click here.
Questions should be addressed to Donna Porter, PhD at donnaporter@uabmc.edu or Lydia Drumright, PhD at lnd23@uw.edu
2022 San Diego Nathan Shock Center pilot grant awardees announced
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging has announced its third-year class of pilot grant awardees. Recipients from seven different institutions received up to $20,000 to pursue research that advances our understanding of how humans age, with the goal of extending the human health span—the number of years of healthy, disease-free life.
Individuals age at different rates, and even specific cells and tissues within a person age differently. This depends on intrinsic properties, including genetics and where cells are in the body, as well as extrinsic factors such as exposure to environmental toxins and pathogens. Understanding this variability—called heterogeneity—and how it contributes to overall human aging, risk for disease, or therapeutic responses is the center’s theme, and the focus of these pilot grant awards.
This year’s pilot grant awardees are:
Nicole CoufalAssistant Professor at UC San Diego
Human microglial aging modeled through mitochondrial progeria mutations
Dibyadeep DattaAssistant Professor at Yale University School of Medicine
Elucidating the Spatial and Temporal Progression of Pathology of Alzheimer’s Disease at Single-Cell Resolution in Non-Human Primates
Caroline Kumsta
Assistant Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys
Heterogeneity of autophagy during aging
Sarah Ocañas
Postdoctoral Fellow at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
The effect of estrogen signaling modulation on female-specific microglial heterogeneity in the mouse hippocampus
Andrey ParkhitkoAssistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh
Defining downstream mechanisms of methionine restriction by using single-cell sequencing
Lichao Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow at UConn Center on Aging
Proteomic mechanisms of lifespan and healthspan extension by targeting p21high cell in vivo
Zhen Zhou
Postdoctoral Fellow at UC San Diego
Combining single-cell transcriptomics with live-cell imaging to unravel divergent aging trajectories in yeast
Grant recipients will receive subsidized access to the San Diego Nathan Shock Center Research Resources Cores (shared research facilities), necessary reagents and supplies, and access to training opportunities offered by the center and its core research facilities. They will also be paired with an established aging research investigator, who will provide career mentoring and guidance to ensure project success.
Pilot Grant Awardees are also invited to attend the San Diego Nathan Shock Center’s inaugural Symposium on The Heterogeneity of Aging, to be held March 22, 2023, at the Salk Institute. The exciting day will feature presentations by Michael Snyder of Stanford University, Rozalyn Anderson of the University of Wisconsin, Berenice Benayoun of the University of Southern California, Rafael de Cabo of the NIH-National Institute on Aging, and San Diego Nathan Shock Center 2022 Pilot Grant Awardees. There will also be opportunities to learn more about the Center’s Research Resource Cores, Research Development Core, and the upcoming 2023 Pilot Grant call. Further event details will be forthcoming and can be found here.
San Diego Nathan Shock Center leverages long-running human study to enable cellular research on diversity of aging
Cells donated by participants of the Rancho Bernardo Study of Healthy Aging, which has tracked the lifestyles and health of community residents for 50 years, will be used to generate novel cell models of aging for the research community
LA JOLLA—The San Diego Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, a collaboration between the Salk Institute, UC San Diego, and Sanford Burnham Prebys, received new funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enroll participants from the Rancho Bernardo Study of Healthy Aging into their own clinical cohort to study differences in how individuals age. Initiated 50 years ago by the late UC San Diego Distinguished Professor Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, the Rancho Bernardo Study is one of the longest, continuously NIH-funded studies in existence.
Read the full press release here: https://www.salk.edu/news-release/san-diego-nathan-shock-center-leverages-long-running-human-study-to-enable-cellular-research-on-diversity-of-aging/
UAB Nathan Shock Center: Pilot Grant Funding Opportunity
UAB’s Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging announces the availability of pilot/feasibility project awards for investigators having the goal of future funding from the NIH/NIA. Studies may focus on any area of aging research that can be supported by the UAB Nathan Shock Center Research Cores, with priority given to those examining hallmarks and/or energetics of aging.
This program will provide total awards of up to $40,000 (including direct and indirect expenses). Project periods will be one year. Applicants must utilize at least one of the UAB Nathan Shock Center Research Cores, as described in the Research Cores website pages. Submission deadline is October 25, 2022.
For more information and to apply, please visit: https://www.uab.edu/shockcenter/research/funding/pilot-grants
UAB Nathan Shock Center: Exploratory Funds Opportunity
The UAB Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging is requesting short proposals for Exploratory Funding for New Projects ($1,000-$10,000 each) with focus on addressing the hallmark and/or energetics of aging. The goal of these projects are to:
- Provide funds to collect data critical for an upcoming grant submission;
- Make use of the NSC research cores towards having the goal of gathering data needed for a full Pilot Grant application, and consequent extramural funding request.
Funding typically consists of “vouchers” that cover the use of UAB Nathan Shock Center core services. More information on the UAB Nathan Shock Center Cores can be found using this link.
Applications will be accepted on a continuous basis and reviewed monthly. For more information and to apply, please visit: https://www.uab.edu/shockcenter/research/funding/exploratory-funds.
UCSD Proteomics Symposium October 20, 2022
The UC San Diego ACTRI Center for Population Research and Scientific Methods presents a virtual symposium: Harnessing the Power of Large-Scale Proteomics to Advance Population Health Research. To be held October 20, 2022, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT. For details on the day’s agenda, please see this link.
To register for this event, please visit: https://uchealth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eReZKQQaQ4-2_8QNSRKWwQ.
T32 Training Program Postdoc Opportunity at UW-Madison
The Biology of Aging and Age-Related Diseases T32 Training Grant, located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is looking to fill a postdoc slot as early as September 1, 2022. For more details on the eligibility criteria and information on how to apply, please see this link. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. Please contact Sara Seton at sseton@medicine.wisc.edu with questions.
The Biology of Aging and Age-Related Diseases NIH/NIA training program is led by Dr. Sanjay Asthana and Dr. Rozalyn Anderson. Our training program and expert mentoring team covers the spectrum of aging research, from basic mechanisms of aging to biology of age-related disease, and translational studies of preventative interventions and clinical application. This unique grant covers career development for post-doctoral scholars through didactic training in Basic and Translational Aging Biology, mentored training and professional skill development, the Biology of Aging Seminar Series, and support for conference attendance. For more information about our mentors, trainees, program directors, and more please visit: https://biologyofaging.wisc.edu/.
Training opportunity in Experimental Aging – Application deadline: August 1 2022
The 29th Annual NIA Training Course provides intense exposure to current concepts in experimental aging research for 15-20 research scientists. It is designed primarily for junior faculty and advanced fellows with at least two years of postdoctoral experience in a cell or molecular biology or a related field. Senior scientists who wish to learn about current aging research are also welcome to apply.
Each day includes: i) overview lectures on a pivotal topic in modern aging research; ii) development workshops at which trainees present a research proposal, which will be critiqued by workshop faculty with aging expertise; iii) faculty research talks on selected topics. Faculty for the 2022 course include some of the world’s leading scientists in the aging and longevity research community.
NO COURSE FEE. Travel and accommodations will be covered by funds from the National Institute on Aging, and meals will be covered by a grant from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research. Find more details at this link.
San Diego Nathan Shock Center workshop was a success – the call for 2023 Pilot Grant proposals is now open
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging held its second workshop in late March of 2022. The workshop included scientific updates from the three SD-NSC Scientific Cores, a keynote seminar by Dr. Meng Wang from Baylor College of Medicine, research updates from the 2021 Pilot Grant Awardees, and a Career Development Panel with professionals from academia and industry. Many of these presentations are now publicly available on the Center’s website.
The event was very well received by the Aging Research community, with 151 scientists joining virtually. The Center’s 2021 and 2022 Pilot Grant Awardees were able to attend in person, participating in a range of training and networking sessions, as well as meeting with their SD-NSC scientific/career mentors. In addition, Awardees were all invited to attend the La Jolla Aging Meeting (LJAM) the day before.
“Our second workshop was a great success, and we are now excited to launch our third call for Pilot Grant proposals. These funds launch new investigations into the Heterogeneity of Aging, understanding of which is the core mission of the Center”, said Gerald S. Shadel, Ph.D, Director of the SD-NSC.
For the 2023 SD-NSC Pilot Grants, the Center will provide up to $20K per project to support research into the Heterogeneity of Aging, with the goal of providing six awards. Recipients of these Grants will receive subsidized access to the SD-NSC Scientific Research Resource Cores, access to training and career development opportunities, and pairing with an established Biology of Aging researcher who will provide scientific and career guidance.
The call for applications is now open; the deadline is August 27, 2022. Learn more about the program and how to apply by following this link.
Apply now! Assistant Professor -Chancellor’s Joint Initiative: Gerontechnology
The Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care in the School of Medicine and the Department of Bioengineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego invite applications for a joint cross-campus hire for a tenure-track faculty position, at the rank of Assistant Professor. The focus of this search is broadly termed “Gerontechnology”, a field of transdisciplinary research that seeks to develop technological solutions that improve the health of older adults as well as cell and molecular technologies that assess biological rather than chronological age. Modern and emerging technologies have the potential to preserve, promote and restore independence of older adults and create better “aging diagnostics” that could be based on biomolecular, cellular, biofluid, or imaging biomarkers, on electrical/mechanical devices, or on app-based solutions. While technology and technology-enabled devices are ubiquitous, they have not yet achieved their potential to promote, preserve, or recover the independence of older people or to better assess their cellular or molecular potential for recovery.
For more information: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03076
Apply now! Assistant Professor -Chancellor’s Joint Initiative: Geroscience
UC San Diego –School of Medicine (Department of Medicine) and the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. The Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care in the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health at UC San Diego invite applications for a joint hire for a tenure-track faculty position, at the rank of Assistant Professor. The focus of this search is “Geroscience”, a field that seeks to understand biological mechanisms of aging to develop strategies that can delay the onset of multiple, rather than individual, age-related chronic diseases and conditions. New insights into the biological underpinnings of aging have tremendous potential to impact the development of promising prognostic tools and treatments for age-related conditions. These opportunities require interdisciplinary teams with complementary expertise in translational research, clinical trials, and human cohort studies. Successful candidates will be expected to establish a vigorous program of high-quality externally funded research. Specific focus areas include, but are not limited to: multi-omics, bioinformatics, epigenetics, and biodemography.
For more information: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03100
San Diego Nathan Shock Center announces pilot grant awardees
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, a consortium between the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Sanford Burnham Prebys (SBP) and the University of California San Diego, has announced its second-year class of pilot grant awardees. Recipients from six different institutions will receive up to $15,000 to pursue research that advances our understanding of how humans age, with the ultimate goal of extending health span, the number of years of healthy, disease-free life.
“We are excited to support researchers who are working on these innovative, basic biology of aging research projects,” says Salk Professor Gerald Shadel, who directs the SD-NSC. “The findings from this collective group of projects will deepen our understanding of the heterogeneity of aging, which is key to finding interventions to improve human health span.”
The six pilot grant awardees from top left are:
- Leena Bharath, assistant professor at Merrimack College, “Human T cell inflammation in aging”;
- Shefali Krishna, staff scientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, “Characterization and function of mitochondrial age mosaicism and heterogeneity”;
- Gargi Mahapatra, postdoctoral fellow at Wake Forest School of Medicine, “Identifying mediators of bioenergetic decline in peripheral cells of older adults across a spectrum of cognitive abilities”;
- Chiara Nicoletti, postdoctoral fellow at Sanford Burnham Prebys, “Extracellular vesicles as soluble mediators of accelerated aging within the heterogeneous population of muscle-resident cells in Duchenne muscular dystrophy”;
- Anastasia Shindyapina, instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, “Unraveling heterogeneous biological aging of mouse immune cells at single-cell resolution”; and
- Xu Zhang, research associate at the Mayo Clinic, “The dynamics and heterogeneity of cell fates during cellular senescence.”
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center expands its network by adding 36 affiliated researchers.
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging is thrilled to announce that 36 researchers from the San Diego community have joined the Center as affiliates. These ageing researchers are from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and the University of California San Diego. “We look forward to working with our Center’s affiliates to foster new research collaborations that advance the understanding of the basic biology of aging, with a focus on the heterogeneity of the process, and to provide educational opportunities and support to investigators new to the aging field. We are thankful for their dedication and contribution to the aging research community,” said Gerald S. Shadel, Ph.D., Director of the SD-NSC.
SD-NSC affiliates will serve as center advocates, encourage new researchers to explore the basic biology of aging and help promote aging research in general. The broad expertise of the SD-NSC affiliates will enhance the center’s pilot grant and mentoring programs in which junior researchers are paired with senior investigators for scientific and career advice.
Efforts are ongoing to recruit affiliates from the broader aging community. If you are interested in joining the Center as an affiliate, please email your information here.
AGE Early Career Scholars Program – apply now!
Deadline January 25, 2022
American Aging Association (AGE) is looking for enthusiastic trainees studying aging or age-related diseases to apply for the AGE Early Career Scholars Program. This program aims to promote diversity in the aging research workforce by supporting 2-year AGE membership and travel for the 2022 AGE meeting. The selected applicants will also be paired with a mentor chosen from the senior AGE trainee chapter member and present their research at the AGE 2022 annual meeting
Celebrate #ResearchDiversity Day on October 21, 2021, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET
The National Institute of Aging (NIA) will host its annual #ResearchDiversity Day Twitter event on October 21, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT.
Over the past four years, NIA has organized a #ResearchDiversity Day to highlight and celebrate its commitment to diversity in aging research. During this year’s Twitter Chat event, NIA will provide answers to frequently asked questions about diversity supplements and will recognize the grantees who recently received Diversity Supplements.
One of the Diversity Supplements was awarded to San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) postdoctoral researcher, Melissa Hernandez Kelley of the Gage lab. The Supplement supports her training in the generation of various in vitro human cell models of aging through the SD-NSC Human Cell Models of Aging Core. She is conducting her postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Professor Fred Gage, co-Director of this important Core. Her exciting work takes advantage of skin samples donated by a well-characterized cohort of various ages, generating induced cell types and organoids critical for understanding the cellular heterogeneity of aging. These skill sets will provide a useful canvas for building studies that incorporate her expertise in electrophysiology to study aged neurons and other cell types.
Join NIA and other institutes on Twitter to learn more about the Diversity Supplements and how they help increase diversity of the scientific workforce. Use the hashtag #ResearchDiversity to share your experience and indicate what research diversity means to you.
Learn more about #ResearchDiversity Day event here.
Learn more about NIA’s Diversity Supplement program.
Peter Adams and Gerald Shadel awarded $13 million from NIH to study aging and liver cancer
Sanford Burnham Prebys Professor Peter D. Adams, who directs the Aging, Cancer and Immuno-oncology Program, and Salk Institute Professor Gerald Shadel, who directs the San Diego Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, have been awarded a grant from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging for $13 million, funding a five-year project to explore the connection between aging and liver cancer.
Throughout the five-year project, the researchers will undertake a comprehensive study of how chronic interferon signaling influences several biochemical processes in age-related liver cancer. These include senescence, a cellular stress response associated with aging that is already a major focus of Adams’ research. They’ll also investigate the links between liver cancer and malfunctions of mitochondria and metabolism that occur during aging.
Read more »
Postdoctoral Opportunity Biology of Aging and Age-Related Diseases T32 Training Program
The Biology of Aging and Age-Related Diseases T32 Training Grant, located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is looking for a postdoc as early as March 1, 2022. Click here to read the flyer. Please contact Sara Seton at sseton@medicine.wisc.edu with questions.
About the program: The Biology of Aging and Age-Related Diseases NIH/NIA training program is led by Dr. Sanjay Asthana and Dr. Rozalyn Anderson. The training program and expert mentoring team cover the spectrum of aging research, from basic mechanisms of aging to biology of age-related disease, and translational studies of preventative interventions and clinical application. This unique grant covers career development for post-doctoral scholars through didactic training in Basic and Translational Aging Biology, mentored training and professional skill development, the Biology of Aging Seminar Series, and support for conference attendance. For more information about our mentors, trainees, program directors, and more please visit: https://biologyofaging.wisc.edu/.
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center: tackling the heterogeneity of aging
Understanding basic mechanisms of aging holds great promise for developing interventions that prevent or delay many age-related declines and diseases simultaneously to increase human healthspan. However, a major confounding factor in aging research is the heterogeneity of the aging process itself.
Pubmed »
GeroScience »
UC San Diego Geriatrics team ranked #13 in the nation
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging is thrilled to announce that the Geriatrics and Gerontology team at UC San Diego Health has been ranked #13 in this specialty by U.S. News & World Report. More than 4,750 medical centers across the U.S. were evaluated for this survey. “We are very fortunate indeed to have a top-tier team specializing in Geriatrics as a key component of our center” said Gerald S. Shadel, Ph.D., Director of the SD-NSC.
“We are extremely honored by this national recognition”, said Dr. Molina, co-Director of SD-NSC’s Human Cell Models of Aging Core and Vice Chief of Research for the Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care at UC San Diego. “We strive to optimize the experience of aging through excellence in clinical care, education, and transformative research.
“As part of the SD-NSC, Dr. Molina’s team is building a novel human cohort that represents the breadth of adult chronological age and is extensively characterized forkey physical and functional measures of biological age. Cell samples from these individuals will be used to study a range of aging processes, with the goal of developing personalized interventions to increase health span.
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San Diego Nathan Shock Center announces first grant awardees at inaugural training workshop
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center (SD-NSC) of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, a consortium between the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Sanford Burnham Prebys (SBP) Medical Discovery Institute and the University of California San Diego, has announced the first class of pilot grant awardees at the center’s inaugural training workshop. Six recipients, each from a different institution, will receive up to $15,000 to pursue research that advances our understanding of how humans age, with the ultimate goal of extending the number of years of healthy, disease-free life (i.e., health span).
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