AFAR and the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research has awarded Dr. Binsheng Wang of the UConn Center on Aging a Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in Aging Research. He is just one of nine postdoctoral fellows to be selected nationally for this prestigious one-year, $60,000 research grant awarded through a rigorous review process.
According to Wang, chronological age is the leading risk factor for most chronic diseases, frailty, and mortality worldwide. Older adults often have multiple chronic conditions at the same time, resulting in reduced health and reduced quality of life.
“There is a big challenge to compress morbidity period and increase healthspan,” says Wang.
This is why Wang’s research aims to characterize the role and mechanisms of p21Cip1-highly-expressing (p21high) senescent cells in lifespan and healthspan.
He has generated and validated a new p21-Cre transgenic mouse model, and he will use this model to investigate whether clearance of p21high cells in mice could reduce frailty index, extend lifespan, and more importantly, improve physical function at the end of life.
“By gaining a comprehensive understanding of p21high cells in vivo, this project’s findings could be broadly relevant to the field of aging research,” says Wang.
Wang is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Ming Xu of the UConn Center on Aging. Xu is also an assistant professor in genetics and genome sciences at UConn School of Medicine.
The Glenn Foundation for Medical Research(“GFMR”), in partnership with AFAR, created the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research to encourage and further the careers of postdoctoral fellows who are conducting research in the basic biology of aging, as well as translating advances in basic research from the laboratory to the clinic. The award is intended to provide significant research and training support to permit these postdoctoral fellows to become established in the field of aging.
Learn more about this grant program here.
