Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Relevance to public health: The activity of adult stem cells is necessary to maintain and rejuvenate tissue health, and progressive loss of stem cell activity is a major contribution to age-related tissue degeneration. The long-term goal of my research is to dissect the mechanisms of age-related adult stem cell failure in the simplistic Caenorhabditis elegans germline stem cell system. I will fill fundamental gaps in our knowledge of adult stem cell exhaustion to inform novel therapeutic approaches to sustain health span in humans.