Projects Judith Klein-Seetharaman Lab | ASU

Healthy Aging

Turning back the clock on aging through biomarker-informed interventions.

The longest a human has ever lived is 122 years, but most people don’t reach that age, and the risk of developing chronic diseases drastically increases with age. How can we decrease these risks of adverse health outcomes and help people live to 122 years at good health? At the center to this question, in our opinion, is metabolism. We are studying the connection between aging and metabolism from many different angles and in the context of varying disease risks and interventions (e.g. GLP-1, medicinal plants, supplements). In a highly interdisciplinary collaboration with clinicians and scientists with expertise in health, behavior, multi-omics, and artificial intelligence in academia and industry, we develop age and health biomarkers and interventions to improve biological age. Our long-term goal is to essentially turning back the clock on aging to achieve “younger” biological age as compared to chronological age. We are also studying aging in non-model organisms with the hope of understanding how genetic and environmental factors affect biomarkers of aging and metabolic health.

Retinitis Pigmentosa & Other Rare Diseases

Using multi-omics data integration to delay disease progression.

We would like to understand how mutations in structurally and functionally disparate genes cause the same disease phenomenon in the context of Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a retinal degeneration disease ultimately leading to blindness. As a PhD student with H. Gobind Khorana at MIT many years ago, Dr. Klein-Seetharaman worked on molecular mechanisms of misfolding in rhodopsin caused by point mutations associated with RP. Initiated by misfolding, the disease ends ultimately in photoreceptor cell death. However, we know that mutations in many other genes also result in photoreceptor cell death. An extreme case is usherin (USH2A), which also causes RP (and also hearing loss). To us, this means that we should have a model system that allows us to study not only each gene in isolation but also together so we can make the causal connections between the shared phenotype despite the disparate origins. Most scientists solve this problem by studying animal models, but our lab specializes on the study of pure proteins or cells. To bridge these systems, we are working with material science and tissue engineering experts to develop a realistic photoreceptor-pigment epithelium joint cell model for RP.

How can YOU make a lasting impact in our research lab?

Volunteer in the JKS lab

Dedicate your valuable time towards research in the JKS lab. Whether it's for your Barrett Honors Thesis, medical school applications, or simply to get some hands-on lab experience, reach out to jkleinse@asu.edu to discuss your volunteering options in our lab! Our lab offers flexible hours, as well as both wet lab and analytical lab projects you can contribute to.

Donate to our one-of-a-kind research projects

Donations towards the JKS lab are used solely for research purposes. Currently, we have two main projects involving Research to Fight Blindness and Increasing Healthspan. Donate to our two projects today using the ASU Foundation for a New American University website:

Our research towards fighting blindness work includes research on the protein found in the eye called Rhodopsin and research towards treating the rare disease called Ushers Syndrome, which causes blindness and deafness.

Our research towards increasing the healthspan involves research on humans, corals, and sharks. We strive to look at the organism's health on the metabolic level by examining the specific metabolites that contribute to aging.

To learn more about the amazing people in our lab who are contributing to these research projects, click here!