Cellular Ageing and Senescence Laboratory

WHAT WE DO

Ageing is defined as the accumulation of changes over time that can contribute to an increased probability of disease and death. Lifespan varies greatly among different species and cell types.

 

Remarkably, lifespan is amenable through gene mutations, pharmacological interventions and changes in the availability of nutrients and dietary factors.

 

We are interested in the molecular mechanisms that underlie ageing and related phenomena and how lifespan is regulated in the level of cells, tissues and whole organisms. In our group, we study gene and protein networks implicated in cellular fitness and metabolism, neurodegeneration, cancer and ageing with a focus on the nutrient-responsive signalling pathway Target of Rapamycin (TOR).

 

Our aim is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and principles behind senescence and lifespan and apply this knowledge for the amelioration of age-related diseases. In addition, the group performs quantitative fitness profiling of microbiomes and mycobiomes and explore the effects of nutrition on biome physiology and subsequent effects on human healthy ageing.

 

We use the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and mammalian 2D and 3D tissue culture systems such human fibroblasts, neuronal cells and other established cell lines deriving from kidney or the gut epithelium. Beyond traditional cell and molecular biology, we extensively use microscopy and utilise multi-omics approaches and network biology. 

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We are part of the Centre for Molecular and Cell Biology.

We are based at the amazing, collegial and research-rich School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London. 

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Queen Mary is a research-intensive university, part of the Russell Group, ranked 14th in the world and 7th in the UK for the quality of research (92% are internationally excellent or world-leading) in the REF 2021.

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OUR FUNDERS: The Royal Society, BBSRC, MRC