Small and mighty are two words used to describe the hypothalamus, an almond-sized structure that sits deep in the brain, located directly above the brain stem between the thalamus and the pituitary gland.    Similar to the “smart” gizmos that control our home environment (temperature, lighting, security and even turning on the coffee maker at dawn), the hypothalamus helps keep our body in balance by directly influencing the autonomic nervous system to manage our heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. It also manages hormones that impact other bodily functions like sleep ..read more

Buck president and chief executive officer weighs in on recent financial analysis   It turns out that figuring out how to slow the aging process is not only good for our collective health but our collective wallets as well. A recent analysis in Nature Aging really resonates with the work done here at the Buck. In “The economic value of targeting aging,”  the authors contend that focusing on slowing the aging process can offer much larger economic gains than chipping away at individual diseases, a point that illustrates exactly why Eric Verdin, MD, does what he does in his lab, sear ..read more

A “Rising Star” makes her mark in the Buck’s Mass Spectrometry Center and Proteomics Core Christina King, the associate director of the Buck’s Mass Spectrometry Center and Proteomics Core, woke up to some text messages on a Saturday morning earlier this year from friends congratulating her for “making the list.”  She was named a “2024 Rising Star” by the Journal of Proteome Research as a young researcher who has “already demonstrated incredible originality and promise for the future of proteomics and metabolomics.”  It’s significant recognition in an important field of science that ..read more

As soon as word of Judy Campisi’s death on January 19th hit social media the tributes started rolling in.  “Devastating news. Judy was a scientific giant and a warm wonderful colleague and friend.” “A superb mentor and a second mother. A big loss, personally and professionally”. “The world will be a worse place without her in it.” Campisi, internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of cellular senescence, was a stellar scientist and scholar as well as an invaluable mentor, collaborator, teacher and friend.  This profile, done after she was elected to the National Academy ..read more

The Webb lab focuses on neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. It’s been dogma that after reaching adulthood humans can’t form new brain cells. Basically, the belief has been that if we lose neurons, whether through bad habits, toxic exposures or aging, there’s no replacing them. This dogma has been disproven in rodents. Those animals clearly have the ability to form new neurons in specific areas of the brain (also called neurogenesis) via dormant stem cells that spring to life when needed.  Associate professor Ashley Webb is among a growing cohort of researchers who think the human brain ..read more

Buck scientist asks questions about evolution in biomedically relevant ways with a grant from the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality   Women have no choice but to accept the cards they have been dealt when it comes to the age they undergo menopause. Or do they? Buck Senior Scientist Deena Emera, PhD, wants to learn how animals experience menopause or, more frequently, don’t. She aims to steal some of their tricks to help enable women to  gain some control of their reproductive aging. “My hope long term is to expand a woman’s choices about when she has child ..read more

Ashley Webb brings a lifetime of science to her new position at the Buck   Ashley Webb, PhD, the Buck’s newest faculty member, investigates the molecular mechanisms of brain aging and neurodegeneration. Now an associate professor, Webb remembers being a kid who enjoyed how researchers focused on coming up with solutions.   That early interest in science became the fabric of her life.  Being good at math and science reinforced her trajectory.  “Even when I was an undergraduate, I wanted to be in the lab. I was the quintessential lab rat type of student.”   W ..read more

Finally a genetic variation that delivers a benefit rather than risk   Living a long and healthy life depends mostly on lifestyle choices and genetics. While we can all eat better, exercise more, and prioritize sleep, our genetics sometimes seem like an endless list of things that could go wrong. Dr. Lisa Ellerby “There are a lot of environmental factors that control how long we live and our healthspan, and most of them are risk factors,” says Buck Professor Lisa Ellerby, PhD. “But there is a well established beneficial genetic factor, the opposite of a risk factor, for being exceptio ..read more

A realization on a beach in Brazil leads to big data and research on aging   David Furman, PhD, who directs the AI Platform at the Buck, uses the most powerful technologies available to deliver unprecedented insight into the aging process and is dedicated to figuring out ways to improve the way people age. His lifelong quest all began on a Brazilian beach. When he was a teenager, Furman was living the dream, surfing and surviving off of leather belts he made and sold. Unlike the average surfer, all that sun and sand became his light bulb moment. “I was living a good life and then I had ..read more

Buck postdoctoral fellow receives grant from the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality Mitochondria are famous for being the powerhouses of the cell, supplying most of the chemical energy needed to fuel biochemical reactions. But they are so much more than that, says Olga Bielska, PhD, who became enamored of mitochondria during her graduate studies in France. “They beautifully orchestrate so many functions beyond just energy production, and may hold the key to understanding aging.” says Bielska, who is a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Buck President and Chief Execut ..read more