Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Recipients Announced

Eighteen Three-Year Grants of $375,000 Each Awarded, for a Total of $6.75 Million

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#agingresearch—Hevolution Foundation and the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) are pleased to announce the inaugural Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipients. Eighteen three-year awards of $375,000 each, for a total of $6.75 Million, have been granted to support research projects in the basic biology of aging or geroscience, a research paradigm based on addressing the biology of aging and age-related disease to promote healthy aging.

The awards support talented early career investigators. The recipients:

• Samuel Beck, PhD, Associate Professor, Boston University School of Medicine: Big data-guided anti-aging drug discovery and its validation
• Charlotte Cecil, PhD, Associate Professor, Erasmus University Medical Center: What makes clocks tick? Mapping determinants of epigenetic age acceleration in early life
• Marco Demaria, PhD, Associate Professor, European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing (ERIBA): Targeting altered Ca2+ signaling in cellular senescence to extend healthy longevity
• Zhixun Dou, PhD, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts General Hospital: Loss of nuclear proteostasis in senescence and aging
• Peter Douglas, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: Intracellular lipid surveillance and nuclear hormone receptor dynamics in age determination
• Nir Eynon, PhD, Group Leader, Monash University *as of 05.01.2023: Uncovering sex-specific epigenetic ageing molecules in response to exercise
• Aditi Gurkar, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh: A Nanoscale Detection Tool for Senescence
• Diana Jurk, PhD, Associate Professor, Mayo Clinic: Investigating liver-to-brain transmission of cellular senescence during aging
• Adam Konopka, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Interaction of Rapamycin and Exercise on Healthspan
• Sailendra Nichenametla, PhD, Associate Scientist, Orentreich Foundation for the Advancement of Science: Investigating the role of serinogenesis in regulating lipid metabolism
• Miranda Orr, PhD, Assistant Professor, Wake Forest University School of Medicine: Spatial proteogenomic profiling to determine the impact of senescent neurons on the aging brain
• Daniel Roh, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine: Targeting Wound Senescence to Improve Wound Healing in Aging
• Markus Schosserer, PhD, Junior PI, Medical University of Vienna: Targeting the epitranscriptome to promote healthy lifespan
• Kosaku Shinoda, PhD, Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Proper Control of Inflammatory Cell Death during Aging of Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT)
• Marlene Starr, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Kentucky: The Role of Adipose Tissue-Resident T-Cells in Age-Associated Inflammation and Metabolic Dysfunction
• Stefano Tarantini, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center: Intravital characterization of mitochondrial dysfunction in the aged brain endothelium
• Lindsay Wu, PhD, Senior Research Fellow, University of New South Wales: Overcoming ovarian failure to extend women’s health and lifespan
• Ming Xu, PhD, Assistant Professor, UConn Health: The synergistic benefits of metformin and senolytics on lifespan and healthspan

“In partnership with AFAR, Hevolution Foundation is excited to strengthen the international pipeline of aging researchers through the New Investigator Awards,” shared Felipe Sierra, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Hevolution Foundation. “We want to help fill the void and speed the pace of scientific discovery on the processes of aging by dramatically increasing the research workforce. This initial round of grants is a significant step toward that goal.”

Recipients of the New Investigator Awards were selected through a rigorous, peer-review process. Applications were reviewed by established aging researchers who volunteer their time and expertise to select scientists and research projects that have the greatest likelihood of making significant contributions to help us stay healthier longer as we grow older.

“Some of the biggest breakthroughs in aging research today were funded first through AFAR’s grants for promising early career researchers. The Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research will significantly boost support for junior faculty worldwide,” noted Stephanie Lederman, EdM, Executive Director, AFAR. “The promising therapeutics on the horizon that will extend health and vitality as we grow older are rooted in the research into the basic biology of aging and age-related disease supported by this grant.”

For more information on the Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience visit https://hevolution.com/en/funding-opportunities or https://www.afar.org/funding-opportunities.

About Hevolution Foundation

Founded in the belief that every person has the right to live a longer, healthier life, Hevolution Foundation is a global catalyst, partner, and convener, on a mission to drive efforts to extend healthy human lifespan and understand the processes of aging. Hevolution Foundation aims to increase the number of aging-related treatments on the market, compress the timeline of drug development, and increase accessibility to therapeutics that extend healthy lifespan, also known as healthspan. A non-profit organization headquartered in Riyadh, with an annual budget of up to $1 Billion, Hevolution Foundation plans to open hubs in North America and other global locations to support a cutting-edge, global ecosystem of talent to propel aging and geroscience research forward and achieve medical breakthroughs to help humanity live healthier, longer.

Connect with Hevolution Foundation on LinkedIn, Twitter and at Hevolution.com.

About AFAR

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is a national non-profit organization that supports and advances pioneering biomedical research that is revolutionizing how we live healthier and longer. For more than four decades, AFAR has served as the field’s talent incubator, providing more than $193 million to nearly 4350 investigators at premier research institutions to date—and growing. Through its 2022 grant programs, AFAR awarded over $11,000,000 to more than 60 investigators. A trusted leader and strategist, AFAR also works with public and private funders to steer high quality grant programs and interdisciplinary research networks. AFAR-funded researchers are finding that modifying basic cellular processes can delay—or even prevent—many chronic diseases, often at the same time. They are discovering that it is never too late—or too early—to improve health. This groundbreaking science is paving the way for innovative new therapies that promise to improve and extend our quality of life—at any age. Learn more at www.afar.org or follow AFARorg on Facebook and American Federation for Aging Research on LinkedIn.

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