Reduced activity of the TOR pathway extends invertebrate lifespan, and, in mice, pharmacologic reduction of TOR signaling during adulthood extends life. In other models of extended longevity, genetic modifications of the nervous system are sufficient to extend life. Our project aims to determine whether selective reduction of mTOR signaling in the...
Senior and New Scholars Awards for University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
Dr. Veronica Galvan
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2010 new Scholar Award in aging
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Dr. Viviana Perez
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2010 new Scholar Award in aging
Maintenance of proper protein function (protein homeostasis) is critical and at the cellular level it is achieved by rigorous protein quality control, which involves mechanisms such as protein folding and protein degradation among others. It is well established that with age protein homeostasis declines with an increase in protein toxicity (mis-...
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Dr. Rochelle Buffenstein
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2006 senior Scholar Award in aging
Naked Mole Rats (NMRs) are the longest-living rodents known; they live >28y in captivity which is ~9x longer than similarly-sized mice. NMRs show attenuated age-related declines in both morphology (e.g. bone loss) and function ( e.g. vascular function). Furthermore, we have never seen any evidence of cancer in our large 25-y captive NMR... |
Dr. James F. Nelson
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2002 senior Scholar Award in aging
Mutational screens in C. elegans and D. melanogaster demonstrate that single gene mutations can extend life span. The phenotypes associated with these mutations include reduced insulin and/or insulin-like growth factor signaling and increased resistance to oxidative and other life-threatening stressors. Mammalian models of extended...
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Dr. Steven N. Austad
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
1999 senior Scholar Award in aging
Evidence that oxidative damage, a by-product of normal metabolism in virtually all animals, is causally involved in the process of aging and the development of degenerative disease has been steadily accumulating for more than forty years. An understanding of the exact nature of this damage to specific cell components and mechanisms by which... |
Dr. Olivia M. Pereira-Smith
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2003 senior Scholar Award in aging
Normal cells grown in culture have a limited potential to divide and eventually become terminally non-dividing. This is called cell or replicative senescence and is used as a model to study aging at the cell level. Tumor-derived cells, in contrast, divide constantly without control. We have found that tumor cells grow as they do because they... |
Dr. Peter J. Hornsby
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2000 senior Scholar Award in aging
The overall aim of this grant is to provide new methods for the study of gene action in human aging, using cell transplantation techniques applied to human adrenocortical cells. Prior to beginning this grant, we had established methods for genetic modification of bovine adrenocortical cells and for examining the function of genetically modified... |
Dr. Benjamin Eaton
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2007 new Scholar Award in aging
Adult onset neurodegenerative diseases, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Huntington's disease, don't present clinical symptoms until late in life suggesting that the normal aging process plays an important role in determining when affected individuals begin to show disease symptoms. This suggests the possibility that manipulations...
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Dr. Yidong Bai
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2002 new Scholar Award in aging
The overall goal of this study is to isolate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations associated with aging, to analyze the accumulation of the mutations during aging and to determine the genetic and functional consequences of the age-dependent mtDNA mutations in mouse. In mammalian cells, over 90% of oxygen is consumed by mitochondria, and up to 4% of...
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Dr. Jan Vijg
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2005 senior Scholar Award in aging
Among biological macromolecules the DNA of the genome has a unique position. Unlike other building blocks of macromolecular structures, such as proteins and lipids, DNA molecules cannot be easily replaced by natural turnover. Hence, the need for genomes to rely on advanced maintenance and repair systems to deal with the chemical damage occurring...
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Dr. Shane L. Rea
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2008 new Scholar Award in aging
Caenorhabditis elegans is a microscopic soil worm that has been successfully employed to identify genetic factors regulating aging. Much work remains, however, in order to understand how genetic alterations relate to life extension, and how to translate this information to humans. In the first study of its kind, we will now... |
Dr. Fred E. Regnier
Purdue University
2003 senior Scholar Award in aging
One of the most widely accepted theories in aging research is the free radical or oxidative stress theory of aging, which states that a steady-state accumulation of oxidative damage in cells and tissues leads to aging. Over the past two decades, it has been shown that oxidative damage to cells increases with age in a wide range of organisms,... |
Dr. Ravi Ranjan
University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
2006 new Scholar Award in aging
Aging is associated with diminished cognitive function that can, in part, be explained by cellular changes in the mechanisms of neuronal plasticity. Degeneration in synaptic functions associated with learning and memory contributes to age-dependent pathologies including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. The... |
Non-Scholar Awards for University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio
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2011 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation has awarded $8,400 to support selected speakers and sessions at the 2011 Univ. of Texas San Antonio Nathan Shock Center Conference on "Inflammation in Aging and Age-related Disease" held 10/13/11 to 10/16/11 in Bandera, TX. For further information, see:... |
2008 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation awarded $7,000 to support speakers at The University of Texas San Antonio Nathan Shock Aging Center Conference: ìCalorie Restriction in Aging Research: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?î held October 23-26, 2008 at the Mayan Ranch, Bandera, Texas. For further information, see:...
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2006 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation awarded $10,000 to support named speakers at The Third International Conference on Functional Genomics of Ageing to be held March 29 ñ April 1, 2006 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Co-organized by Drs. Jan Vijg and Yousin Suh, the major focus of the conference pertains to stem cells and the molecular configurations...
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2004 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation awarded $10,000 to help support the Second International Conference on Functional Genomics of Aging held in Hersonissos on Crete, Greece on April 28 ñ May 1, 2004.
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2003 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation awarded $10,351 to support symposia on Early Origins of Age-Related Disease and Protein Aggregation in Single, Double and Triple Neurodegenerative Brain Amyloidoses at the Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting held San Diego, California on November 21-24, 2003.
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2002 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation awarded $10,000 to help fund the
Functional Genomics of Aging conference held in Seville, Spain April 24-27, 2002. This conference covered integrated genomic circuits that control mechanisms of aging, survival, and stress responses. |
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2001 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation awarded $7,500 to help support the Scientific Symposia at the 2001 Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting held November 15-18, 2001 in Chicago.
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2001 Conferences and Workshops Scholar Award in Aging
The Ellison Medical Foundation awarded $10,000 to help support the Gordon Research Conference on the Biology of Aging: From Genetics to Physiology held at Queen's College in Oxford, England July 22-26, 2001.
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Funded Institutions
The Ellison Medical Foundation fosters research by means of grants-in-aid on behalf of investigators to universities and laboratories within the United States. Institutions receiving awards must be tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations or U.S. colleges or universities.
The Ellison Medical Foundation