Our laboratory’s research is focused on understanding the physiological outcomes of nutrition as it relates to healthspan and longevity using aquatic model organisms. We work with both invertebrate (sea urchins) and vertebrate models. The laboratory has two teleost fish models for nutrition and aging research: the zebrafish, Danio rerio, and the killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri. N. furzeri is the shortest-lived vertebrate currently held in captivity, it has a lifespan of approximately 20 weeks. During this short livespan it exhibits many of the classic phenotypes associated with aging, including cataract formation, muscle wasting, and cognitive degeneration. Working with collaborators at several institutions we are developing standardized protocols for nutrition and husbandry for the application of N. furzeri to relevant questions in aging research.
Current projects at the lab are focused on:
Refining and standardizing the husbandry of N. furzeri to reduce variation among laboratories that currently or may potentially utilize this model for aging research.
Developing nutritionally complete open formulation diets that can be manipulated to understand the effects of specific micro- and macro- nutrients on animal health and longevity.
Applying the principles of nutritional geometry to understand how changes in dietary nutrient consumption associated with stress and other environmental factors can affect body condition such as adiposity.
Studying the effects of aging on whole animal metabolic rates and metabolic enzyme activities associated with specific nutrients.
Nutrition as it relates to healthspan and longevity using aquatic model organisms
