Nine Med School Researchers Awarded Longer Life Grants

Nine researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received funding from the Longer Life Foundation - a cooperative effort between the School of Medicine and the Reinsurance Group of America. The foundation supports research aimed at improving human health, wellness and longevity. The researchers are:

• Milan Chheda, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the division of oncology, who received $40,000 to study how the aging brain may promote the development and growth of brain tumors.

• Gautam Dantas, the Conan Professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, who received $25,000 to investigate how the gut microbiome influences neurodegeneration, especially during preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

• Leslie Gewin, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the nephrology division, who received $40,000 to study how the peroxisome - an organelle involved in generating energy for the cell - contributes to age-related kidney dysfunction.

• Ali Javaheri, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine in the cardiovascular division, who received $62,500 to study effects of dietary protein on cardiac function and muscle wasting in the setting of cancer chemotherapy.

• Hrishikesh Kulkarni, MD, an assistant professor of medicine in the pulmonary and critical care division, who received $40,000 to study the role of complement - a component of the innate immune response - in protecting the lungs during acute respiratory distress syndrome.

• Laura Marks, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine in the infectious diseases division, who received $40,000 to identify the bacterial and human factors that determine how sick a person will become upon infection with Staphylococcus aureus, a common skin bacterium that can cause anything from mild rashes to fatal bloodstream infections.

• Natalie Niemi, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, who received $40,000 to study why mitochondria, which generate energy for cells, decline in skeletal muscles as people age.

• Elizabeth Pollina, an assistant professor of developmental biology, who received $40,000 to identify the molecular mechanisms that protect neuronal genomes from damage during periods of heightened neuronal activity. The findings will shed light on how genome protection mechanisms fail in aging and degenerative disease.

• Jessica Silva-Fisher, an assistant professor of medicine in the oncology division, who received $40,000 to develop long non-coding RNA - segments of RNA that are not translated into proteins - for use as biomarkers for multiple myeloma progression.