The Latest Glenn Foundation Funding for Aging Research

In past years the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research has reinforced the mainstream of the aging research community with grants of a few million dollars apiece to establish or expand laboratories in many major universities and research centers. Much of this supports work focused on cataloging and then attempting to safely alter the complex details of metabolic operation, such as through potential calorie restriction mimetic drugs, so as to slightly slow the aging process. Here is news of the latest round of grants:

Building on its previous gifts to MIT, the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research has pledged $2 million to establish a new center for the study of aging. The new Paul F. Glenn Center for Science of Aging Research at MIT will be directed by Novartis Professor of Biology Leonard Guarente. "With this generous gift, the Glenn Foundation will enable us to carry out a multitiered approach and leverage the strengths of all three labs to arrive at new and testable conclusions about what pathways and mechanisms govern aging. Behind all of our research is the drive to discover new therapeutic compounds that have the potential to improve the course of the aging process, and hopefully lead the way toward effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, as well as cancer."

The new center will build upon research that was formerly conducted within the Paul F. Glenn Laboratory for Science of Aging Research, which was established at MIT in 2008 with a $5 million gift from the foundation and expanded with an additional $1 million gift in 2013. These efforts were led by Guarente, a pioneer in the field of aging research who is known for his work to uncover the SIR2 gene, a key regulator of longevity in yeast and worms. Since then, Guarente and his colleagues have continued to explore aging, and key pathways and genes that govern aging in the human brain. A particular focus has been the role of sirtuin activation and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide supplementation in slowing the aging process and diseases of aging. Their recent work involves the use of bioinformatics to advance their analysis.

Link: http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/glenn-foundation-gift-aging-research-initiatives-0625

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