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The Biology of Aging and Age-Related Diseases Training Program, which began in 1990, is funded through a grant from the National Institute on Aging. Its main goal is to train individuals from a wide variety of disciplines and diverse backgrounds to conduct biology of aging research.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison
The UW-Madison is one of the finest institutions of higher education in
the world. It has consistently been highly ranked academically and in
terms of receipt of research dollars. It is a large university with an
enrollment of more than 40,000 students, which offers an environment for
learning and research unlike any other. Its location on the shores of
Lake Mendota in Madison adds the benefits of a vigorous, educated and
involved local community, as well as outstanding aesthetic beauty.
Training Grant Benefits
The most important benefit of this program is the opportunity to work
in the laboratories of internationally-known, widely respected researchers.
The training grant pays an annual stipend, tuition and fees, conference
expenses, and research costs.
Past Trainees
After completing their training with this grant, our trainees have been very
successful in their careers in research and teaching at major universities,
such as the UW-Madison, the University of Michigan, the University of Alabama-Birmingham,
University of California-Davis, the University of Minnesota, and others. Others
conduct research at major private research firms.
Diversity
The UW-Madison campus has developed "Plan 2008" designed to make institutional
improvements to achieve greater campus diversity. This training grant is committed
to participating in the goals of this plan by making efforts to assure diversity
among trainees and faculty. All individuals who have an interest in this field
are encouraged to apply.
FACULTY
Sanjay Asthana Department of Medicine
The major focus of Dr. Asthana´s research program is to evaluate the potential role of estrogen and related gonadal steroids on cognitive function and physical function skills of healthy older women as well as those with Alzheimer´s disease. His studies are designed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of estrogen and raloxifene for Alzheimer´s disease. He is also conducting research to determine if estrogen can improve cognitive changes associated with healthy aging.
Alan D. Attie Department of Biochemistry
Dr. Attie’s lab has three areas of research. His lab has been analyzing murine gene loci and changes in gene expression that contribute to obesity and diabetes. He is examining the regulation of lipoprotein degradation and trafficking by the LDL receptor. He is also studying defects in cholesterol transport that lead to HDL deficiency and premature heart disease.
Mary Behan
Dr. Behan has two major research interests using rodent models: gender-specific alterations in the neural control of respiration with increasing age that may lead to a variety of breathing disorders and the effects of acute changes in light and darkness on sleep-wake behaviors.
Neil C. Binkley Department of Medicine
Dr. Binkley´s work focuses on osteoporosis prevention and treatment. To better understand the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, the role of subclinical vitamin K insufficiency and approaches to widespread vitamin D inadequacy are being evaluated. Ongoing clinical studies include pharmaceutical trials, bone loss prevention regimens, and evaluation of diagnostic technology.
Christopher L. Coe Department of Psychology
Dr. Coe’s research focuses on the biological correlates of psychosocial processes and uses a life span perspective in animal models and human projects. Studies investigate developmental brain and immune trajectories in the immature baby, as well as similar types of age-related changes in the elderly individual. His lab also serves as the BioCore for the Midlife in the US (MIDUS) study, overseeing the assessment of hormone and immune measures. Dr. Coe also collaborates on the benefits of calorie restriction for delaying age-related illness and mortality.
Marc Drezner Department of Medicine
Dr. Drezner´s research in the pathogenesis of the vitamin D refractory diseases of man could lead to novel therapies for bone and kidney diseases. This work plus ongoing pharmaceutical intervention studies will contribute to the development of new treatment protocols for the mangement of osteoporosis.
Richard S. Eisenstein Department of Nutritional Sciences
Dr. Eisenstein´s research focuses on regulation of iron metabolism in mammals, particularly how cellular iron status is sensed and then how iron homeostasis is maintained by modulation of gene expression. There is a particular interest in the role of iron-regulated RNA binding proteins, the iron regulatory proteins (IRP), in controlling the synthesis of iron transport and storage proteins.
Marina Emborg Department of Medical Physics, Department of Anatomy, Primate Center
The major focus of her research is to evaluate the efficacy of stem cells in animal models of Parkinson´s disease.
Barry Ganetzky Department of Genetics
Dr. Ganetzky´s work focuses on using a genetic approach to dissect the molecular mechanisms of electrical signaling in the nervous system. They have isolated a number of mutations in /Drosphila/ that perturb nerve impulses or synaptic transmission and have analyzed these mutations using genetic, electrophysiological, histological, and molecular techniques. These studies have generated novel information about the structure, function, and regulation of key proteins such as ion channels and proteins required for neurotransmitter release. They are now using the same strategy to investigate the molecular mechanisms that regulate synaptic growth and plasticity as well as those required to maintain normal neuronal viability.
Anna Huttenlocher Department of Pharmacology
Dr. Huttenlocher´s research focuses on the basic mechanisms that regulate cell migration in processes such as tumor invasion and metastasis and the development of chronic inflammation. Her research team intends to identify novel regulators of these processes and define the relationships between these molecules and cell migration.
David F. Jarrard Departments of Surgery and Molecular and Environmental Toxicology
Dr. Jarrard´s laboratory research is focused on the role of imprinting, or allele-specific expression, in aging and prostate cancer susceptibility. Mechanisms being examined for modulating the growth factor IGF-II imprint include DNA methylation. Models being utilized include human prostate cells and in a mouse model of aging.
Sterling C. Johnson Department of Medicine
Dr. Johnson´s research employs functional neuroimaging techniques (such as fMRI and PET) and neuropsychological assessment to study the neurobiological and psychological processes that affect memory. A major focus of research is on people with genetic or cognitive risk factors for Alzheimer Disease to determine whether preclinical brain changes can be observed.
Patricia Keely Department of Pharmacology
Dr. Keely´s research focuses on the interactions of cells with extracellular matrix components and their alteration during pathological cell migrations in cancer metastasis or atherosclerosis. Dr. Keely is particularly interested in the mediation of adhesion to collagen by integrins, and how they transmit signals to cells that lead to normal or migratory cellular behavior.
Joseph W. Kemnitz Department of Physiology, Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences
Research in this laboratory is directed toward the neurobehavioral and hormonal mechanisms that control food intake and energy expenditure, and the consequences of caloric imbalances on physiological well-being. They are investigating the causes and consequences of obesity and the relationship between energy balance and processes of aging in rhesus monkeys.
Laura Kiessling Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Dr. Kiessling´s laboratory is developing and testing compounds that may inhibit or break up aggregation of the beta amyloid deposits implicated in Alzheimer´s disease. They use biophysical and cellular assays to investigate amyloid aggregation, and Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode, as a model to investigate the consequences of beta amyloid aggregation in an organism.
Barbara E.K. Klein Departments of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Dr. Klein’s research focuses on the cause and prevention of vision loss due to cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Risk factors for many age-related eye disorders have been identified but in many cases the strongest risk factor is having a family member with the same condition. A longitudinal population-based study, the Beaver Dam Eye Study, is currently being conducted in an effort to shed light on some of these factors.
James S. Malter Department of Pathology
Dr. Malter´s laboratory is focused on the posttranscriptional regulation of amyloid precursor protein (APP) mRNA, the precursor for beta-amyloid, the cause of Alzheimer´s Disease. The trainees in this laboratory have participated in the identification of APP mRNA regions responsible for normal regulation, the cloning of RNA binding proteins, and developed assays to examine APP mRNA stability in vitro.
Terry D. Oberley Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Dr. Oberley´s research studies the role of oxidative and nitrosative stress in physiologic and pathologic processes. These questions are examined through expression of antioxidant enzymes in selected subcellular locations and in transgenic and knockout mice, and localization of oxidative and nitrosative damage products in tissues.
Tomas A. Prolla Departments of Genetics and Medical Genetics
Dr. Prolla´s laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular basis of the aging process and common age-related human diseases through the use of large-scale gene expression analysis. This work has developed hundreds of biomarkers to measure the aging process in genetically altered mice.
Luigi Puglielli Department of Medicine (Geriatrics and Gerontology)
Molecular aging of the brain and Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, affecting up to 15 million individuals worldwide. The prevalence of AD increases progressively (without plateau) during aging, and aging itself is the single most important risk factor for AD. Because of the ongoing increase in life expectancy, the number of patients affected by AD is expected to rise to approx. 14 million in the United States and 50 million worldwide by 2050.
The three main histological hallmarks of AD are: (i) abnormal accumulation of amyloid beta-peptide (A-beta) in the form of senile (or amyloid) plaques and amyloid angiopathy; (ii) abnormal aggregation of the hyper-phosphorylated form of the microtubule-binding protein tau into neurofibrillary tangles; (iii) progressive and diffuse loss of neurons and synapses in the neocortex, hippocampus, and other subcortical regions of the brain.
Studies from several groups, including ours, are starting to delineate a complex number of biochemical pathways that can affect both A-beta generation and the ability of the brain to sustain/ generate synapses. Specifically, our group has identified a novel molecular pathway that connects the aging program mediated by the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) to neurotrophin signaling and A-beta generation. IGF-1R is the common regulator of lifespan in all organisms. In fact, hyper-activation of IGF-1R leads to accelerated aging and short lifespan, whereas hypo-activation of IGF-1R leads to delayed aging and increased lifespan. Therefore, we have identified a molecular/biochemical pathway that links aging to AD, and that could explain the “AD-risk” associated with aging. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments are now required to acquire more in-depth knowledge of this pathway and identify biochemical targets for the prevention of this devastating form of dementia.
JoAnne Robbins Department of Medicine
Dr. Robbins directs the UW/VA Swallowing Research Laboratory and studies the influences of aging on swallowing. Her research group has focused on swallowing dysfunction as an outcome of stroke. Future work will focus on treatment and prevention of dysphagia, and identifying the most effective management of liquid aspiration in dysphagic geriatric patients.
Dale A. Schoeller Department of Nutritional Sciences
Dr. Schoeller´s research is directed toward understanding the regulation of energy balance and how excessive weight gain contributes to the development of the chronic diseases associated with aging. He is also interested in the development and use of stable isotope techniques for the assessment of nutritional status.
Darryl G. Thelen Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Thelen’s laboratory (Neuromuscular Biomechanics) is interested in the effects of age, functional status and injury on the neuromusculoskeletal system. A current study is using coupled motion analysis and computer simulation techniques to identify biomechanical factors that limit walking speed in older adults. The long term goal is to identify specific functional limitations to mobility that might be amendable by targeted intervention programs.
Richard Weindruch Department of Medicine
Dr. Weindruch´s laboratory is investigating two main questions: 1) How does caloric restriction (CR) retard aging and diseases in mice and rats? 2) Does CR retard aging in monkeys? Recent gene expression data strengthens the idea that CR may slow aging by reducing oxidative damage to tissues.
George Wilding Department of Clinical Oncology
Dr. Wilding´s laboratory has shown that androgens induce oxidative stress in human prostate epithelial cells and hypothesize that this contributes to the development of prostate cancer. Their research examines the mechanisms by which androgens lead to the production of reactive oxygen species and investigates ways to intervene in this process to prevent prostate cancer.
Jerry C.P. Yin Departments of Genetics and Psychiatry
Dr. Yin´s laboratory studies the molecular and cellular events underlying memory formation. Drosophila can be trained with single cycle, repetitive massed or repetitive spaced training, and each of these produces a genetically distinct type of memory that persists for different amounts of time. Molecules that participate in each of these phases of memory formation are prime candidates for aging-dependent decreases in memory formation. The transcription factor dCREB2 has been shown to reside in mitochondria, the cytoplasm and the nucleus, and to show neurodegenerative effects (longevity, cognitive effects, sensitivity to various mitochondrial insults) when activity is compromised. Its possible role as a cellular thermostat may explain its ability to suppress various neurodegenerative conditions, eg. Huntington´s disease. Experiments are underway to test its ability to suppress a wide variety of other neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer´s disease. Recently, great progress has been made in investigating the role of sleep, and its likely role in memory formation. It is anticipated that aging-related declines in sleep will also contribute to aging-dependent decreases in cognitive function.
For further information, contact:
The UW Institute on Aging
2245 Medical Sciences Center
1300 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
608-262-1818