Grant: CIHR New Investigator

Aging is one of the least-understood areas of biology, with hundreds of theories but no consensus. Many researchers now agree that multiple mechanisms operate simultaneously, but there is little understanding of how they might work in concert. Our recent research has demonstrated that aging is due at least in part to breakdowns in how large numbers of molecules interact with each other. We have shown how to measure this "dysregulation" accurately and simply, confirming the importance of studying integrated aging physiology at an organismal level. These findings have many implications, both applied and theoretical, and over the next five years we will pursue as many of these implications as possible. Specifically, we will: (1) Develop, validate, and implement clinical tools to calculate a patient's dysregulation profile and to guide clinicians in adjusting treatments incorporating this information. This work will be conducted using one of the world's largest and best clinical databases, ResearchOne. (2) Study how changes in diet affect changes in dysregulation during aging, and use the results to develop nutritional recommendations that can be personalized based on an individual's nutrition and dysregulation profile. (3) Team up with researchers studying several chronic diseases to understand how dysregulation of specific physiological systems underlies chronic diseases and to develop better clinical measurement/diagnostic techniques for the underlying problems. (4) Continue mathematical and theoretical research on dysregulation in order to better understand the biological underpinnings of aging, physiological organization, and evolution. Our work to date suggests a new paradigm for how to successfully integrate physiological complexity into research across many disciplines. While aging cannot be stopped, our results represent one of the most promising avenues yet to slow the progression of its negative consequences.