Home Department: undeclared
Mentor: Stephen Quake (Bioengineering and Applied Physics)

“MicroRNA-Based Senotherapeutics for Ageing-Related Diseases"

Buildup of senescent cells, which permanently stop dividing due to stress, plays critical roles in aging and age-related diseases. However, no clinical treatment currently exists that can differentiate senescent from normal cells in the body. MicroRNAs, a type of small non-coding RNA, are key mediators in various cellular senescence-associated processes. Laura’s goal is to harness senescence-related microRNAs for anti-aging therapeutics. Laura will identify and utilize microRNAs to: (1) inhibit production of harmful proteins to prevent the spreading of senescence, and (2) trigger senescent cell death, potentially providing a novel miRNA-based cell classifier for clinical treatments.