Events
Winter and Spring 2012: Frontiers in Aging seminar series
People
Director
Thomas A. Rando MD, PhD
The Rando laboratory studies the basic molecular mechanisms of stem cell biology, including the regulation of quiescence, activation, proliferative expansion, and progenitor cell fate. A major focus of the research is on age-related declines of stem-cell mediated tissue homeostasis, repair, and regeneration and on the role of the systemic environment of aged organisms in suppressing stem cell functionality. In this context, the laboratory focuses on the biology of muscle stem cells and comparisons with adult stem cells in other tissues. The Rando laboratory also studies both pathogenesis and experimental therapeutics for the muscular dystrophies, with a particular emphasis on stem cell therapies.
http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Thomas_Rando/
http://randolab.stanford.edu/
Associate Directors
Steven E. Artandi MD, PhD
The Artandi laboratory is interested in how telomere shortening influences cancer, stem cell function, and aging. Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect chromosome ends and shorten with cell division and aging. The Artandi laboratory has found that telomerase, the reverse transcriptase that synthesizes telomere repeats, also regulates stem cells. The Artandi laboratory is pursuing the function of telomerase through diverse genetic and biochemical approaches.
http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Steven_Artandi/
http://www.stanford.edu/group/artandi/
Anne Brunet, PhD
The Brunet laboratory studies the molecular basis of longevity. The Brunet laboratory is interested in the mechanism of action of known longevity genes, including FOXO transcription factors and SIRT deacetylases. The Brunet lab focuses on the role of these longevity genes in the mammalian nervous system, particularly in aging neural stem cells. The Brunet laboratory is also discovering novel genes and processes involved in aging using two model systems, the invertebrate C. elegans and an extremely short-lived vertebrate, the African killifish N. furzeri.
http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Anne_Brunet/
http://www.stanford.edu/group/brunet/