We build new blood and immune cells throughout our lifetimes, but the process of aging reduces the efficiency of the body’s blood- and immune-forming organs — the bone marrow, spleen, thymus and lymph nodes — known collectively as the hematopoietic system. This decline is a significant health concern because it raises the risk of infections, decreases vaccine efficacy and increases the risk of certain forms of blood cancer in older people.
Jackson Laboratory (JAX) Assistant Professor Jennifer Trowbridge, Ph.D., has discovered that this decline in hematopoietic system function begins in middle age. A new five-year grant totaling $2,384,108 million from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases will fund her search for therapeutic strategies to extend healthy function of the hematopoietic system into older age, thus increasing regenerative capacity and immune cell function during aging.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Developing Effective Approaches to Extend Hematopoietic Healthspan by Targeting Cell-extrinsic and Cell-intrinsic Alterations at Middle Age, grant number 1R01DK118072-01, 08/01/2018 to 06/30/2023.