The topic area of the current theme is aging mechanisms. Understanding of aging mechanisms provides an opportunity for the development of therapies targeting non-communicable diseases – major causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Today aging and longevity are arguably the hottest topics in medico-biological research which attract attention of academic researcher, innovators, investors, corporations, governmental institutions, and the media. This situation is explained by the rapid technological advancement and data accumulations which resulted in many discoveries that deliver a groundbreaking message – aging is treatable. Aging theme at UMass Amherst is timely and beneficial for the following reasons: (1) many individual scientists moved in the direction of mechanistic biogerontology in recent years and are still not integrated well into a community of people with similar interests; (2) aging field is extremely multidisciplinary and is hard to develop collaborations, as usually our networks are built form experts in our narrow fields; (3) because aging is the major risk factor for most pathological conditions that limit health span and promote chronic disorders, even minor advancement stemming from collaborative effort may result in a significant improvement in public health; (4) focus on aging research may increase our research and translational funding as aging became a funding priority for NIH and many private foundations; (5) investment climate today provides great support for translational research an innovation in aging field.
Aging Mechanisms - Faculty
A listing of associated faculty and staff for Aging Mechanisms.
