The focus of the Healthy Longevity Laboratory is to use genetic, genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic approaches to investigate how organs communicate with each other through secretion of hormones to regulate whole-body homeostasis, and how this process gets dysregulated in aging. The age-associated organ function decline involves multiple cell intrinsic events. Most physiological processes however are orchestrated by cell extrinsic events, therefore aging is also a consequence of progressive breakdown of extracellular environment. This milieu is constituted of endogenous metabolites, hormones, and nutrients, which proffers potential targets for increasing healthy longevity. Our goal is to identify extracellular milieu factor(s) that change with age to identify novel avenue to treat diseases of aging. In the last 15 years we have shown that self-imposed domestication in humans has led to an imbalance in nutrient-genetic interactions leading to increased incidence of diseases. We are best known for research on evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of aging, in particular on how nutrients such as vitamin B12 and taurine regulate aging. We have more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Science, Cell, Nature Medicine, J Clinical Investigation and over the years our research has been covered by over 600 media outlets around the world, including NY Times, NEJM, Science, Time, Forbes, CNBC, Nature, BBC, WSJ, CNN.
We have extensive expertise in bone, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, pancreas, liver, reproductive, gastrointestinal tract and brain structure and function analysis. We welcome collaboration requests from other laboratories to extend our expertise in various organ physiologies to contribute towards understanding the biology of aging. Together we can identify molecular targets, nutritional cues, and lifestyle changes to increase healthy lifespan in humans.
We currently have multiple open positions at the level of Ph.D. student/ postdoctoral fellows/ Technician/ Research Volunteers. If interested please get in touch.
Our present and past research has been supported by funds from:
Our research program is funded primarily by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Private donations are welcome as they help us accelerate the progress of research through the increase in infrastructure or the recruitment of additional laboratory personnel.
NICHD, NIH, USA R01 Grant (Percentile 1): 2021-2026
NIA, NIH, USA R56 Grant: 2023-2025 (NCE)
NIDDK K99/R00 Grant (National Institute of Health, USA)
The Wellcome Trust (UK)
Ramalingaswamy Fellowship (DBT, India)
Department of Biotechnology (India)
Gideon and Sevgi Rodan IBMS Fellowship (Sponsored by Merck Life Sciences, USA).