By SHANNON O. WELLS
As a post-doc at Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute, Aditi Gurkar and her research partners screened small molecules that could specifically target cancer cells. For Gurkar, it was a personal quest.
“I chose to work on cancer because both my grandparents were diagnosed with it later in life,” she said. “It was surely rewarding — and we found promising targets that even worked in animal models — which, of course, was so exciting.”
When she started examining how many drugs make it from pre-clinical models into the clinic, she was shocked. “It is only a small fraction! That is when I started digging into the reasons of why this ‘valley of death’ exists.
“There are several reasons, but one major reason is that we usually don’t take the major driver of chronic conditions — including cancer, neurodegeneration, osteoporosis and diabetes — into account.”
In other words, common conditions closely related to aging. “That is when I decided to pursue a second post-doc at the Scripps Research Institute to further explore the biology of aging.”
Gurkar, assistant professor in Pitt’s School of Medicine and Aging Institute, recently received an inaugural New Investigator Award in Aging, Biology and Geroscience Research from Hevolution and the American Federation for Aging Research. She is one of 18 scientists from around the world who will receive $375,000 in a three-year period to support research addressing the biology of aging and age-related disease to promote healthy aging.
Her project, “A Nanoscale Detection Tool for Senescence,” will develop new approaches to identify and map senescent cells — a type of dysfunctional cell that accumulates with age and drives inflammation and disease — to better understand the mechanisms of aging, and develop new strategies to improve the human “health span.”
As a faculty member of Pitt’s Division of Geriatric Medicine, Gurkar has twice been funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Aging for research on identifying signal mechanisms that drive aging.
As part of the 2023 Senior Vice Chancellor’s Research Seminar series, Gurkar will deliver a virtual presentation called “What Is Your Biological Age” at noon Aug. 25. Registration for the lecture is required to receive event instructions. Additional details will be provided two weeks prior to the lecture.
In between projects and summer traveling engagements, Gurkar took some time to address University Times’ questions on her grant and research.
University Times: What does the grant and recognition mean to you and your research goals?
Aditi Gurkar: I am so honored and grateful for the grant from Hevolution-AFAR. The thing about science that is most exciting is that you never stop learning and you truly have opportunities to venture in new directions. The grant allows us to work at the interface of physics and biology and to explore innovative ideas to understand and diagnose biological aging.
UTimes: How long have you been at Pitt? What have been your areas of focus?
Gurkar: I have been at Pitt since 2017. Six years — Wow! Time truly flies. When I first came to Pitt, we had a vision to build up the Aging Institute with an aim to understand the biology of aging. It has been exciting to see the growth — innovative science and the amazing people at the Aging Institute. My lab focuses on understanding what drives biological aging and how can we intervene to maintain healthspan (period without age-related issues).
UTimes: Regarding your “wake-up call” while researching at Harvard that led you to look closer at the role of aging, with hindsight, does it now seem more evident that the aging process plays a significant role in DNA damage and degeneration?
Gurkar: Of course, in hindsight it seems so obvious that there are multiple changes with age including accumulation of DNA damage that drives the aging process, and this drives the loss in resiliency and susceptibility to multiple morbidities.
UTimes: How would you describe senescent cells? What research has focused on these?
Gurkar: One aspect of aging is that we accumulate dysregulated/senescent cells, in popular culture referred to as “zombie” cells. We always have a few senescent cells in us. They play beneficial roles when they are present transiently. For example, they are needed for the process of wound healing. Our bodies have evolved natural ways to eliminate them. However, as we get older this system of checks fails, and we start accumulating zombie cells. The reason that they are called zombie cells are because they don’t “die” easily and release a lot of factors that are harmful to neighboring cells, giving rise to low-grade chronic inflammation.
UTimes: How new is this direction/field?
Gurkar: Although senescent cells were identified in the 1960s, we now have discovered different types of senescence and how they contribute to multiple age-related diseases. We are truly in an exciting time. Only recently have we identified that elimination of senescent cells can improve healthspan significantly. But many gaps still exist.
For example, when should one intervene? Currently, we have no way to identify the percent of accumulated senescent cells and whether the senolytics are effective in humans. We envision that our nanoscale tool can detect senescent cells using salient features to decipher magnetic signatures of such cells.
UTimes: What are your goals with the research? Is there a timeline?
Gurkar: I would like to think that we will make breakthroughs in detecting biological age, which will help assess risk of morbidity and mortality, and maybe even be able to intervene early on to delay onset of such diseases. A friend did tell me once that research is a marathon not a sprint. We are surely on our way, but we also want to make sure that we cross our T’s and dot our I’s.
UTimes: How does your study, “A Nanoscale Detection Tool for Senescence” involve the 17 other scientists who received the $375,000 in grant money? Does this mean you’re the lead researcher?
Gurkar: No. We all got different grants that all explore new avenues in aging research. What is exciting, though, is that we were the inaugural recipients of Hevolution-AFAR grants.
UTimes: What excites and motivates you in studying the effects of aging and cellular changes on health and longevity?
Gurkar: Aging is the ultimate challenge. If we are lucky enough, we will grow older. How can we stay healthy and maintain quality of life as we age is something I think about constantly. The biology of aging has grown in leaps and bounds: There is an investment as a society in it. Several new ideas, such as partial reprogramming, senolytics and geroprotectors have just taken root.
What excites me the most is that researchers in the field of aging are so innovative and dedicated. They truly believe in the goal of healthy aging for all. With our global population aging at an unprecedented rate, there is a critical need for such work.
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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