Embracing Complexity for Healthy Aging

People are living longer but not necessarily healthier. Aging is the biggest risk factor for most diseases and overall decline. In 2019, 83% of Americans aged 60-79 were taking prescription drugs for heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. There's an urgent need to understand the diverse biological factors of aging to find personalized interventions that extend our healthy years, or health span.

Traditional research has been limited by a narrow focus within individual disciplines, treating aging-related conditions separately and overlooking the unique aging experiences of individuals. At Salk, experts in the hallmarks of aging—such as genome instability, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation—collaborate to understand how these factors interact, moving beyond the typical siloed approach. This integrated research aims to unlock the secrets to healthy aging for everyone.

There are many Salk labs focused on healthy aging, but here are a few that are leading the charge.

Ronald Evans

Director, Gene Expression Lab

Jan Karlseder

Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology and Director, Glenn Center for Research on Aging

Satchidananda Panda

Professor, Regulatory Biology

Gerald Shadel

Director of the San Diego Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging

Tatanya Sharpee

Professor, Computational Neurobiology Laboratory

Ye Zheng

Professor, NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

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Recent news articles about Healthy Aging

Unveiling Telo-seq: A breakthrough in telomere research on aging and cancer

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