Bacteria associated with the human body, referred to as the microbiome, outnumber human cells by at least ten-to-one. Many of these bacteria are beneficial and even essential for our health, but they can also cause disease when disrupted. Metagenomic studies suggest which bacteria are present in the microbiome based on the DNA sequences identified...
Senior and New Scholars Awards for Harvard University
Dr. Briana M. Burton
Harvard University
2010 new Scholar Award in aging
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Dr. Cassandra Extavour
Harvard University
2010 new Scholar Award in aging
As tissues get older their ability to recover from damage decreases. This is because the self-renewing and pluripotency capacities of stem cells decrease with age. Germ cells, responsible for making eggs and sperm, are a unique type of stem cell: they are often self-renewing, and their progeny (eggs and sperm) are ultimately totipotent, giving...
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Dr. Jack L. Strominger
Harvard University
2007 senior Scholar Award in aging
Immunosenescence is believed to be an important component of old age and may be related to tumorigenesis and to susceptibility to virus infections. Very little is known about its mechanism, particularly in molecular terms. In the past five years natural killer cell (NK) and dendritic cell (DC) cross-talk has emerged as an important control point...
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Dr. Nicole Francis
Harvard University
2007 new Scholar Award in aging
Cellular senescence is a state in which cells permanently stop dividing. It occurs in response to cellular stresses, including DNA damage, and also due to shortening of chromosome ends (telomeres) caused by multiple rounds of cell division. Although senescence is believed to protect organisms from tumors that could arise from continued...
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Dr. Vlad Denic
Harvard University
2009 new Scholar Award in aging
As cells age, they accumulate intracellular, misfolded protein aggregates. In contrast, young cells appear to be in a state of protein homeostasis in which the physical properties of individual proteins (e.g., their folding conformations) are properly maintained by quality control mechanisms (e.g., chaperone-assisted folding) that enable optimal...
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Dr. Jeff W. Lichtman
Harvard University
2003 senior Scholar Award in aging
That the adult nervous system changes with age is beyond dispute: cognitive abilities deteriorate, reflexes worsen, and the incidence of neurodegenerative disease skyrockets. Yet, despite major advances in our understanding of the etiology of neurodegenerative disease, the neural underpinnings of normal aging remain a complete mystery. Without... |
Non-Scholar Awards for Harvard University
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2002 Training Scholar Award in Infectious Disease
The Ellison Medical Foundation has awarded $1,100,000 for the first year of a five-year
award pledged to Harvard University to train a cohort of scientists, including pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and advanced research /junior faculty trainees from both the United States and from disease endemic countries, in modern approaches to microbial... |
2002 Training Scholar Award in Infectious Disease
The Ellison Medical Foundation has awarded $1,100,000 for the first year of a five-year award pledged to Harvard University to train a cohort of scientists, including pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and advanced research /junior faculty trainees from both the United States and from disease endemic countries, in modern approaches to microbial...
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Funded Institutions
The Ellison Medical Foundation fosters research by means of grants-in-aid on behalf of investigators to universities and laboratories within the United States. Institutions receiving awards must be tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations or U.S. colleges or universities.
The Ellison Medical Foundation