George L Sutphin

Interests

Teaching

I am interested in teaching theoretical and practical concepts related to the biology of aging and age-associated disease, including evolution of aging, molecular and cellular mechanisms of aging, systems and comparative biology of aging, aging genetics, and biostatistics related to survival analysis. Beyond aging, there is a growing need for foundational instruction in both both computational biology and biostastistics at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I am interested in promoting required course work, either as stand-alone courses or as material integrated into established course offerings, in both subject areas.

Research

I am interested in understanding the molecular basis of aging. Individual age is the primary risk factor for the majority of the top causes of death in the United States and other developed nations. As our population grows older, aging is increasingly a central problem for both individual quality of life and the economics of societal health. Understanding the molecular architecture that drives aging will reveal key intervention points to extend healthy human lifespan, simultaneously delay onset of multiple categories of age-associated disease, and develop targeted treatments for specific pathologies. I use a combination of systems biology, comparative genetics, and molecular physiology to understand the molecular processes that underlie aging and drive age-associated disease. A major current focus of my work is on understanding the role of tryptophan metabolism through the kynurenine pathway in the aging process, particularly the interaction with stress resistance, inflammation, and NAD metabolism. A second focus of the lab is understanding molecular mechanisms governing cellular and organismal response to multiple, simultaneous external stressors.

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

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