Danica Chen. Photo by Jan Flatley-Feldman.
In an interview in the Journal of Cell Biology, Danica Chen discusses how she became a cell biologist, her current research, which studies how adult stem cells lose their regenerative capacity as they age, and her plans for future research projects.
“As aging is arguably the single biggest risk factor for numerous human diseases, understanding the cellular pathways that control aging holds the promise to identify therapeutic targets for not just one disease but many diseases all at once,” said Chen, an associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology. “In my laboratory, we hope to make contributions to these core principles by learning how we age, how the aging pathways regulate the development of human diseases, and whether we can harness this knowledge for disease treatment and healthspan extension.”