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The Gurkar lab is interested in defining the molecular mechanisms that drive aging in response to endogenous DNA damage, which accumulates in all of us over time. The majority of individuals over the age of 65 years suffer from at least two chronic degenerative diseases- neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer etc. These chronic diseases of the elderly consume an increasingly large fraction of our health care costs and rob individuals of their independence and quality of life. Developing therapies to target the primary risk factor for all of these diseases, aging itself, is a promising yet challenging solution. The first step is to define the molecular mechanisms that drive aging. We believe that this will reveal novel therapeutic targets that can be further harnessed to extend healthy life.
The central hypothesis that guides our research is that stochastic, endogenous nuclear DNA damage alters cellular and metabolic programs, leading to progression of multiple, age- related degenerative diseases.
Our lab characterizes novel regulators of DNA damage-dependent metabolic reprogramming. To study this we use the strengths of two very powerful model systems: the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a genetically tractable model organism to identify pathways involved in mitochondrial dysfunction in response to nuclear DNA damage; and mice, a physiologically relevant model in which to pursue “hits” to ultimately support rapid translation of new knowledge to human aging.
Problems with DNA repair pathways have been observed in cardiac failure patients. Additionally, recent data suggests that pediatric patients treated with genotoxic agents, develop disabling or life-threatening age- related diseases compared to their siblings. This includes stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease.
Research in the Gurkar lab utilizes a model that lacks DNA repair in the cardiac muscle of mice to uncover crucial components essential for defense against such genotoxic stress.
Yousefzadeh MJ*, Zhao J*, Bukata C, ..., Gurkar AU, ..., Robbins PD and Niedernhofer LJ. Tissue specificity of senescent cell accumulation during physiological and accelerated aging of mice. Aging Cell (accepted, 2019).
Breitbach ME, Greenspan S, Resnick NM, Perera S, Gurkar AU, Absher D*, Levine AS*. Exonic variants in aging-related genes are predictive of phenotypic aging status. Frontiers in Genetics (in press, 2019)
Hamsanathan S, Alder JK, Sellares J, Rojas M, Gurkar AU, Mora AL. Cellular Senescence: The Trojan Horse in Chronic Lung Diseases.. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol.
Czerwińska J, Nowak M, Wojtczak P, Dziuban-Lech D, ..., Gurkar A.U., ..., Oliński R, Speina E, Niedernhofer LJ, Tudek B. (2018) ERCC1-deficient cells and mice are hypersensitive to lipid peroxidation. Free Radical Biol Med.
Aditi U. Gurkar is an Assistant Professor in the Aging Institute, Division of Geriatric Medicine at the
University of Pittsburgh. I believe that aging is one true mystery that surrounds us. Aging is inescapable and unfortunately the
principal risk factor for a number of diseases including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer disease (AD).
If we can therefore unlock this mystery at a molecular level, we could uncover the Fountain of Youth and
live healthier, fuller lives.
Education : B.S.: Florida International University in Miami. Here, I studied Cystic fibrosis (CF) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Dr. Kalai Mathee’s lab and to perform bedside-to- bench research moved to Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital, Boston. In Dr. Steve Lory’s lab I analyzed colonization patterns of respiratory tract bacterial communities in pediatric patients to better understand mechanisms driving CF severity and antibiotic resistance.
Ph.D.: I pursued my Ph.D. in Dr. Cyrus Vaziri’s lab at Boston University School of Medicine and was most fascinated when it became clear that DNA damage, which accumulates through life, contributes to aging pathologies.
Post-doc: Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School & Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. As a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Sam Lee’s lab, I performed high-throughput screens to identify small molecules that could reactivate mutant p53, a tumor suppressor mutated in ~50% cancers. I also worked on molecular mechanism(s) that regulate autophagy, a process required to maintain organismal homeostasis and central to the aging process.
I then moved to The Scripps Research Institute, FL to work on the direct impact of DNA damage on aging and age-related decline. My work here has uncovered cellular responses to genotoxic stress that reprogram metabolism and precede cell-fate decisions to influence aging. My long-term goal is to understand how DNA damage-associated metabolic changes impact aging. My other passions in life include making science education fun for pre-schoolers, painting with my kids and I have a M.S. in Indian classical dance.
Most inspired by: “Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born” - Albert Einstein
My research interest has always been towards understanding complex biological mechanisms. I am particularly fascinated by transport mechanisms occurring at biological membranes. I find this as an interesting challenge for a cell, as it should maintain the membrane integrity while it transports proteins or other biomolecules across the membrane for survival.
During my Ph.D at Prof. K. Sankaran's lab in Anna University -India, I worked on bacterial lipoprotein biosynthesis. My research revealed a novel role for Tat (Twin arginine translocation) in transporting lipoproteins across bacterial cell membranes. I also demonstrated that bacterial lipid modification pathway can be used as a novel protein engineering tool. After my Ph.D, I moved as a postdoctoral fellow to work on Tat pathway in Prof. Siegfried Musser's Lab at Texas A&M University. I was particularly intrigued about Tat transport system as it solves a seemingly complex problem: transporting large folded proteins through membrane without collapsing the membrane permeability. I systematically examined the interaction of a Tat substrate with the translocon and deciphered the mechanism by which this substrate would migrate through the membrane bilayer. I am interested in developing innovative experimental designs that combine biochemical, biophysical, molecular biology and computational approaches to unravel complex biological mechanisms.
I am passionate about music and I sing occasionally. I love photography, street photography in particular. I also love to cook and develop new recipes with an Indian flair.
I have always been interested in biology and had the chance to study biochemistry, cellular biology and physiology at the University of Besançon (France) during my B.S. equivalent. I then joined the bioengineering program of the Polytech'Nice Engineering School of the University of Nice (France), where I learned more about biotechnologies and pharmacology.
I then discovered a passion for tissue engineering, performing two internships at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine of the University of Pittsburgh. During my first internship in Dr. Stephen Badylak's laboratory, I investigated the use of Extracellular-Matrix (ECM) hydrogel as a treatment for two disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, in a rodent and a canine model. The year after I joined Dr. Bryan Brown's laboratory, where I focused on the use of ECM-based biomaterials to treat nerve injuries. In a second project we compared the use of ECM scaffolds with polypropylene mesh in a hernia repair murine model, in young and old animals.
I am excited to now expand my research into aging, as it is linked to the development of so many diseases and its understanding will help to develop treatments to numerous disorders.
In my free time, I like listening to music, dancing and drawing, especially portraits, landscapes and still life.
My name Mo Nayal and I am excited to be joining Dr. Aditi Gurkar's lab at the Aging Institute! I'm originally from New Jersey but have lived in Philadelphia for the past 7 years where I attended Drexel University and worked at the University Pennsylvania's Gene Therapy Program. I'm a lover of coffee, traveling, and bad horror movies. I'm new to Pittsburgh so I can't wait explore and see all the great things this city has to offer. I start on January 7th and I'm excited to meet and work with all of you!
Happy Holidays with axe throwing, 2019!
It has been so much fun hosting Ella and Roshan this summer!
Perfect day for a lab picnic.
Friday Lab Meeting...
...are never boring!
Birthday Celebrations!
Thank you for the wonderfun birthday cake.
Summer Ice-Cream Social.
Celebrating Shruthi's birthday and Victor's farewell.
Aging Institute Winter Party
Happy Birthday Lucile
Worm club holiday party.
Holiday party
Gurkar lab celebrates Diwali
YAY!
Celebrating an 'ice cream' moment in the Gurkar Lab
Tom, the lab mascot
Hanging out in Madison for the C. elegans meeting!
Go pirates!
The worm club attends Pirates baseball game.
Aging Institute winter party.
Hybridization of science and art
Check out one of our favorite artist. Greg Dunn designs.
Breakthroughs “Age of Aging”
National Geographic Channel’s series directed by Ron Howard highlighted aging research as a breakthrough in Nov 2015.
Awesome Science sites we love
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks- always inspiring!
TEDxPittsburgh
Our own Aditi Gurkar will be one of the featured speakers at TEDxPittsburgh!
Happy Holidays with axe throwing, 2019!
Testimonial from our summer Undergrad from Oxford University, Roshan K.
Over 8 weeks this summer, I worked on an independent research project in the Gurkar Lab at the Aging Institute.
Worm Meeting 2019
Shruti's first Worm Meeting in LA.
AGE Meeting
Looking forward to the AGE Meeting in SF.
External Speaker at Worm Club
So excited to host Dr. Matt Gill for worm club this month.
Our very own Austin Sims gets to go to FrA2R program
Thank you to Frontiers for alzheimer's research.
Welcome Mo to the Gurkar Lab, glad to have you be a part of the team.
Aditi receives first prize at the Aging Research Day 2018
Pepper Retreat 2018
Very first time to present our findings about human aging!
Diwali 2018
Gurkar lab celebrates Diwali 2018
Cold Spring Harbor - Mechanisms of Aging
Such an excellent meeting! We got an opportunity to present some of our work at this awesome meeting.
Phone: (412) 624-7494
Email: agurkar1@pitt.edu
Administrative Assistant: Beth Thomas
Phone: (412) 864-2507
E-mail: eat8@pitt.edu
We are looking for fun, skilled and highly motivated individuals excited to work with a scientific team focused on understanding the base of age-related disease such as neurodegeneration, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Send c.v. with name, email, and phone numbers of references to agurkar1@pitt.edu
Lab Manager/ Research Specialist
Mouse-house Technician
Post-doctoral Fellows
