(Press-News.org)
NEW YORK, NY— The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2024 AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty. The AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty program provides up to $150,000 for a one- to two-year award to junior faculty (MDs and PhDs) to conduct research that will serve as the basis for longer term research efforts on the biology of aging. The major goal of this program is to assist in the development of the careers of early career investigators committed to pursuing careers in aging research. Selected through a rigorous review process, this year’s seven recipients are exploring a range of topics at prominent research institutions nationwide:
Priya Balasubramanian, BVSc, PhD*, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center: Deconstructing adipocyte heterogeneity and its impact on calorie restriction mediated anti-aging benefits
Lacy Barton, PhD, Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at San Antonio: Elucidating the impact of parental age on embryonic germline development
Yang Lyu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University: Motivation Reward and Longevity as Influenced by Serotonin Dopamine and Metabolism
Jonathan Nelson, PhD,** Assistant Professor, Stony Brook University: Understanding how ribosomal DNA maintenance sustains cellular longevity
Alison Ringel, PhD, Core Member (Ragon Institute); Assistant Professor (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ragon Institute of Mass General MIT and Harvard: Targeting T-Cell Dysfunction to Delay Tissue Aging
Carlos Giovanni Silva-Garcia, PhD, Assistant Professor, Brown University: Neuronal regulation of histone acetylation promotes longevity
Daniel Tyrrell, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham: Understanding Gzmk+ CD8+ T Cell Development and Activity in Aging
* Underwritten fully by the WoodNext Foundation, a component fund administered by Greater Houston Community Foundation
** Underwritten fully by the Hearst Foundations
Other funders of the AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty include: AFAR Board of Directors, Anonymous, Diane Nixon, Diana Jacobs Kalman, Rose M. Badgeley Charitable Trust, The Irene Diamond Fund, The Lowell F. Johnson Foundation, and The Irving S. Wright Endowment.
“A staple of our grant portfolio since AFAR's inception, the AFAR Grant for Junior Faculty provides flexible support at a critical juncture in an early career investigator’s career when research funding is most difficult to secure,” notes Stephanie Lederman, EdM, Executive Director of AFAR. “Receiving an AFAR Grant for Junior Faculty has helped thousands of early career scientists acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to obtain larger grants as they build a body of research. This grant has helped many investigators advance the field’s understanding the basic mechanisms of aging."
Learn more about the AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty program here.
###
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 $212,500,000 to 4,460 investigators at premier research institutions to date—and growing. In 2024, AFAR expects to provide approximately $12,270,00 to 60 investigators. A trusted leader and strategist, AFAR also works with public and private funders to steer high quality grant programs and inter-disciplinary 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
END
Highlights:
An FDA-approved vaccine for smallpox and mpox is effective but causes side effects. The other requires multiple doses.
An experimental single-dose vaccine uses the horsepox virus to harness the benefits of both strategies.
Previous studies suggest that inoculation with horsepox elicits an antibody response to mpox and provides 100% protection in animal models.
New data show that the horsepox virus is significantly more attenuated, or weakened, compared to the virus used in the FDA-approved live virus vaccine.
Washington, D.C.—Vaccines that prevent smallpox and mpox come in 2 varieties. One uses a single shot of a live virus but ...
The Mass General Brigham Gene and Cell Therapy Institute, a hub of innovation dedicated to accelerating groundbreaking research, conducting clinical trials and developing FDA-approved treatments, today announced four winning project groups, consisting of seven individuals, of its second annual Spark Grant program. The program was created to fund gene and cell therapy projects by Mass General Brigham investigators that demonstrate tangible advancements towards clinical applications and commercialization outcomes, including licensing, partnerships, or new company creation. A total of $1,150,000 ...
CLEVELAND—Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have identified a new target to treat atherosclerosis, a condition where plaque clogs arteries and causes major cardiac issues, including stroke and heart attack.
In a new study, published in the journal Cell Reports, they identified an inflammation-reducing molecule—called itaconate (ITA)—that could be the foundation of a new approach to treat such a common and deadly disease.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for ...
A research team led by Dr. Jung-Je Woo at the Gwangju Clean Energy Research Center of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) has successfully developed a cost-effective and eco-friendly technology for recycling cathode materials* from spent lithium-ion batteries.
*Cathode Materials: Materials that play a crucial role in generating electricity by storing and releasing lithium ions during battery charging and discharging.
With the recent rise in electric vehicles and mobile devices, managing spent batteries has become a critical global challenge. By 2040, the number of decommissioned electric vehicles is expected to exceed 40 million*, leading ...
Most people don’t enjoy getting shots for treatments or vaccines. So, researchers are working to create more medicines, such as those made from messenger RNA (mRNA), that can be sprayed and inhaled. A study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports steps toward making inhalable mRNA medicines a possibility. Researchers outline their improved lipid-polymer nanoparticle for holding mRNA that is stable when nebulized and successfully delivers aerosols (liquid droplets) in mice’s lungs.
mRNA ...
X-rays are a common component of diagnostic testing and industrial monitoring, used for everything from monitoring your teeth to scanning your suitcase at the airport. But the high-energy rays also produce ionizing radiation, which can be dangerous after prolonged or excessive exposures. Now, researchers publishing in ACS Central Science have taken a step toward safer X-rays by creating a highly sensitive and foldable detector that produces good quality images with smaller dosages of the rays.
“This advancement reduces detection limits and paves the way for safer and more energy-efficient medical imaging and industrial monitoring,” says Omar F. Mohammed, ...
Few questions have captivated humankind more than the origin of life on Earth. How did the first living cells come to exist? How did these early protocells develop the structural membranes necessary for cells to thrive and assemble into complex organisms?
New research from the lab of University of California San Diego Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Neal Devaraj has uncovered a plausible explanation involving the reaction between two simple molecules. This work appears in Nature Chemistry.
Life on Earth ...
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [November 13, 2024] — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)—an alliance of leading cancer centers—today announced the publication of a new patient guideline designed to provide critical support and guidance for individuals with cancer who are seeking to quit smoking. Continued smoking elevates the risk of developing additional cancers, reduces the effectiveness of treatment, exacerbates treatment side effects, and is associated with shorter survival. The new NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Quitting Smoking explains how to best use the tools that exist to help anyone quit ...
Computers are essential for solving complex problems in fields, like scheduling, logistics, and route planning, but traditional computers struggle with large-scale combinatorial optimization, as they can’t efficiently process vast numbers of possibilities. To address this, researchers have explored specialized systems.
One such system is the Hopfield network, a significant artificial intelligence breakthrough from 1982, proven in 1985 to solve combinatorial optimization by representing solutions as energy levels and naturally finding the lowest energy, or optimal, solution. ...
About The Study: This randomized clinical trial demonstrates that cognitive behavioral therapy for prolonged grief was superior to present-centered therapy after treatment and at follow-up with regard to comorbid symptoms. Both treatments were shown to be effective and acceptable, showing the potential for dissemination and increasing patient choice.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rita Rosner, PhD, email rita.rosner@ku.de.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...
