UCSF Bakar Aging Research Institute

We bring together UCSF scientists and clinicians to uncover mechanisms behind aging, develop novel diagnostic/therapeutic tools, and establish best practices for providing equitable care to older adults in our communities. geroscience.ucsf.edu

Big expansion of hypoxia therapy! nature.com/articles/s4225…

BARI’s Isha Jain in Nature Metabolism! Hypoxia nearly triples lifespan and rescues striatal degeneration in a mouse model of a severe childhood mitochondrial disease. It fixes complex I instability and toxic tissue hyperoxia caused by protein quality control defects.

Check out Peggy Cawthon’s latest: A 5-year study of older adults shows that subtle ‘texture’ patterns in thigh muscle on CT scans, beyond simple size or density, track changes in strength & physical performance (walking speed, chair stands). Important insights for healthy aging!

A fish that lives just months but teaches us about aging? BARI’s Param Priya Singh just launched Killiverse: an interactive platform to explore killifish multi-omics data in one spot. Perfect for researchers and curious minds! geroscience.ucsf.edu/news/advancing…

Excited to share a new review by BARI’s Margaret Wallhagen! Her team found key risk and protective factors for depressive symptoms in older adults with visual impairment. Social connections and adaptive coping are helpful buffers. Great work on mental health in aging!

Excited to share this new study by BARI’s Suneil Koliwad! It presents a unique pattern of fat tissue scarring in people living with HIV that drives trouble with blood sugar control, different from scarring seen in obesity alone. Important advance for metabolic health in HIV!

Check out this new review by BARI’s John Greenland! From rapamycin’s discovery on Easter Island to today’s targeted nanoparticles, he explores smarter mTOR delivery for lung transplants, cutting rejection and side effects. amjtransplant.org/article/S1600-…

Congrats to BARI’s Roarke Kamber on being named a 2026 Pew-Stewart Scholar! His work exploring how macrophages team up (or battle) with cancer cells could open powerful new paths for treatments! geroscience.ucsf.edu/news/pioneerin…

Check out this Nature Cell Biology article by BARI’s Orion Weiner! Migrating cells need a clear front and back. His team discovered surprising long-range communication where each side helps activate the other across the whole cell – via membrane tension and internal flows.

Excited to share Alexis Combes new work: Examining preserved tissues at the single-cell level with spatial detail, the team revealed cell partnerships in inflamed guts and signatures that forecast success with drug therapy. A step forward for better ulcerative colitis treatment!

Congrats to BARI’s Paul Wolters! This study shows telomere dysfunction triggers pathologic AT2 cells with senescence, inflammation & profibrotic genes. Blocking p53 rescues AT2 function & prevents fibrosis in human IPF cells. Targeting this signature could change IPF treatment!

BARI’s Christopher Hernandez argues bone fragility isn’t just about density: its time to target bone matrix quality! Matrix mechanical properties strongly influence fracture risk and can be modified. New approaches could transform skeletal health. academic.oup.com/jbmr/advance-a…

Proud to share this JAMA Perspective by BARI’s Dena Dubal! Women carry more AD pathology but outperform it clinically, then decline faster. The science calls for studying female biology (X-chromosome) deeply & adopting sex-specific approaches to unlock breakthroughs for all!