Aging is an inevitable universal process in most of higher order eukaryotic organisms. During the aging process, the physiological functions of organisms gradually decline, which lead to a variety of age-related disorders. One of the major challenges in aging research is to find a way to delay aging and alleviate the impairment of age-related disorders. To this end, a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms of lifespan regulation is imperative. Considering that most cellular behaviors, if not all, are tightly regulated by the network of signaling pathways, my overall research centers on the signaling pathways related to aging and the elucidation of how these signaling pathways modulates aging at the molecular level. Toward this, I am engaging the genetic model organism, C. elegans, to investigate 1) how the genetic factors through the signaling network modulate aging process, and 2) how to intervene in aging and age-related diseases effectively in a feasible way.
