Office of Research: Faculty

Cells freshly isolated from an organism can divide many times in culture but eventually lose the ability to divide in a process known as cellular senescence. While cellular senescence is well described for cells in culture it is poorly understood in vivo. We have shown senescent cells accumulate at high levels with aging. We now seek to determine if the presence of these cells can be used to screen for drugs that alter the aging process. A second project examines gene expression analysis using cheek swabs. We have shown this simple, noninvasive method can be used to screen for oral cancer in an animal model. We now wish to see if it can be used to produce a diagnostic gene expression signature for the disease in people.