Studies the genetics and biology of aging and how aging shapes cancer, using genetically diverse mice.
Studies the genetics and biology of aging and how aging shapes cancer, using genetically diverse mice.
Aging is the greatest risk factor for cancer and for most other chronic diseases, yet people age and develop disease very differently. Our lab studies why. We use natural genetic variation in mice to identify the genes and pathways that influence how individuals age and which age-related diseases they develop.
Genetics of aging. We map genetic factors that influence the decline of function and the accumulation of damage with age, then study how these genes act in different tissues and organs. Our goal is to understand why variants in the same gene lead to different aging outcomes.
Aging and cancer. We study how age and genetic background together determine cancer susceptibility, including which tumors arise, when, and why. Using spontaneous tumors from aged, genetically diverse mice, we aim to build models that reflect the diversity of human cancer more faithfully than conventional approaches.
Once causal genes are identified, we build precision disease models to study them in depth and to test strategies that could slow aging-related decline and reduce cancer risk. Our expertise in quantitative histopathology and digital pathology helps us measure complex tissue phenotypes rigorously and reproducibly.
Join us. We welcome students, postdocs, and collaborators interested in aging, cancer, and mouse genetics.
Our history. Our lab was founded in 2013. Our earlier work on the genetics of kidney aging established the approaches we now apply across tissues and to cancer.
JAX Professor Ron Korstanje talks about how aging is not simply as decline, but as a biological process that can be studied, mapped and transformed.
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How JAX research is unlocking the secrets to living longer, healthier lives
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