One of the highlights of the BSRA Scientific Meetings is the Korenchevsky Prize, awarded to a society member who has made an original contribution to ageing research. The winners are chosen among the oral presentations at the meeting. The prize is to travel to the U.S. to attend the Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association (AAA).
I talked to the 2018 winner Hannah Walters and the 2017 winner Niharika Duggal, soon after their return from the AAA meeting in San Francisco.
Niharika Duggal, Lecturer at University of Birmingham
Niharika Duggal was a postdoc in Janet Lord’s lab at the time she received the award. Niharika tells me about the research for which she was awarded, which was published in Ageing Cell in 2018. “We wanted to test how much of what we regard as normal ageing, such as muscle loss, is due to reduced physical activity. We performed a study on amateur cyclists aged 55-79, who cycled long distances regularly”. So what are the effects of lifelong physical activity? “To our surprise we found that the cyclists had not only maintained levels of muscle and bone, also that they had a great immune system, and were not showing the normal age-related decline in the ability to counteract infections”, Niharika explains. One of Niharika’s key findings has to do with the function of the thymus. The thymus produces immune cells, but during ageing the thymus undergoes atrophy and accumulates lots of fat, resulting in impaired immunity. In the cyclists, the thymus had not atrophied at all, explaining why the cyclists have such a good immune system.
Niharika recently started as a lecturer at University of Birmingham and is now taking this work further. Her PhD student will resample the same cohort of cyclists and expand the analysis to better understand how exercise affects immune ageing. Another question Niharika wants to address is how little exercise you can get away with while still reaping the benefits.
Hannah Walters, PhD student at University of Oxford
Hannah Walters is finishing her PhD in Lynne Cox’ lab in Oxford. Hannah tells me she joined the lab as an undergrad and has been there since. “I really wanted to work on senescence, partly because senescence integrates many different topics of biology”, Hannah says. During her PhD, Hannah studied molecular pathways that govern cell senescence in human fibroblasts. One of the pathways she identified was mTOR signalling, and she has been following up on these findings. “I am writing up my thesis, and want do a postdoc continuing to work on senescence, but in whole organisms”, she says.
Last month Hannah and Niharika travelled to San Francisco to attend the AAA meeting. They agree that it was a fantastic conference, with a packed program and great talks. Both Niharika and Hannah enthusiastically discuss talks by researchers such as Gordon Lithgow, Judith Campisi and James Kirkland, and talk about presenting their work at the meeting. They seem really inspired by the experience.
Both Niharika and Hannah have attended several BSRA scientific meetings and agree that they are very useful for early career researchers. Niharika has attended every year since 2012 and points out that because her research is very focused on immunology it has been great to learn about wider ageing research.
“The BSRA meetings are incredibly friendly and supportive compared to other conferences, and you can talk and mix with everyone” Hannah explains. “The flashpoint presentation and early career events are great”, she adds. She laughs and remembers how students and professors alike were dancing and having fun at the ceilidh at Exeter in 2017. And I can do nothing but agree, the ceilidh was really good fun!
Finally I ask Hannah and Niharika about how being awarded the prize has affected their research and careers. Niharika says: “A lot of difference to be honest. When I got the award the work was unpublished, the award gave my career a boost. Going to the AAA increased my exposure, and I made lots of new connections. Also in the interview for my current job, it really grabbed people’s attention”. Hannah adds: “It is absolutely great to have the award on your CV. And it is a really nice way to be exposed to a whole new audience. “There weren’t many other early career researchers giving presentations at the AAA, so I would never had the same exposure without the award”. She then finishes off by saying: “I’m so grateful to the BSRA for this!”