05/2023 – Atalay Ata joins the lab to complete his PhD through the Hannover Medical School graduate program. Welcome Atalay!
08/2021 – Original research article published in Frontiers in Aging on the role of specific tissues in physiological adaptation to low translation conditions in C. elegans.
06/2021 – Summer student interns Kyle Little and Matt Kenwood join the lab to investigate reproductive trade-offs with longevity associated with dietary restriction in the nematodes (C. elegans) and fish (Nothobranchius Furzeri). Welcome!
05/2021 – Lab awarded an Alzheimer’s Administrative Supplement from the NIH. Research funded by the supplement will investigate the role of translational regulation downstream of nutrient sensing in a model of Alzheimer’s-related proteotoxicity.
12/2020 – Original research article published in Elife in collaboration with visiting scientist Markus Schosserer and his lab at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. In this study, the role of 26S ribosomal RNA methylation and associated methyltransferases were investigated in the context of health and lifespan in C. elegans.
11/2020 – GSBSE student Audrie Langlais joined the lab for a research rotation. Welcome!
08/2020 – Dr. Dilawar Mir joined the lab as a postdoctoral researcher investigating the role of translational regulation in dietary restriction and modulation of the nutrient-sensing mTOR pathway. Welcome!
06/2020 – Dr. Zhengxin Ma joined the lab as a postdoctoral researcher investigating the role of alternative splicing and nonsense mediated decay in adaptive gene regulation under conditions of dietary restriction. Welcome!
04/2020 – Dr. Rogers and Dr. Rollins received the Morris Scientific Discovery Fund Award to identify the role of alternative splicing and nonsense mediated decay in adaptive gene regulation under conditions of dietary restriction.
10/2019 – Dr. Rogers received funding for, and spearheaded development of an animal system new to the MDI Bio Lab. This involves developing a colony of Nothobronchius Furzeri, known as African turquoise killifish, as a model system for comparative studies and as a species that allows simultaneous and rapid discovery in regenerative science in the context of aging.
09/2019 – Original Research Article published in Cell Reports in collaboration with Di Chen’s lab at Nanjing University. In this study, we discovered a cell non-autonomous mitochondrial stress response critical to extreme longevity in C. elegans in which insulin-like signaling is attenuated and ribosomal S6 Kinase activity is muted.
08/2019 – Lab awarded an R01 from the NIH to investigate the role of mRNA translation in adaptive mechanisms downstream of diet and mTOR signaling that promote health and longevity.
08/2019 – Original Research article published in Life Science Alliance investigating altered post-transcriptional processing under conditions of dietary restriction in C. elegans.
07/2019 – The Aging course and Regeneration course at MDI Biological Laboratory are combined into the first iCARB (Immersion in Comparative Aging and Regenerative Biology) course. This course covers basic concepts in both aging and regeneration research using emerging and established animal systems used to model these features under different genetic and environmental conditions.
03/2019 – Original Research article published in Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry in collaboration with Zoya Ignatova’s lab at the University of Hamburg. The manuscript describes a new proteinopathy model based on translational frameshifting events in C. elegans.
02/2019 – Lab welcomed newest research assistant recruit, Hussein Sayed. Welcome!
02/2019 – Lab received the Morris Scientific Discovery Fund Award to accelerate comparative analyses of the effects of low translation on HSR priming and activation of muscle gene maintenance transcriptional profile.
09/2018 – Juyoung Katherine Shim joined the lab as a postdoctoral researcher. Welcome!
08/2018 – Santina left lab to begin graduate school at the University of Wisconsin. Way to go, Santina!
08/2018 – Aric, along with Lew Lipsitz, MD, Chief of Gerontology at Beth Israel and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, developed and taught an aging module in a course entitled Comparative Physiology: BIDMC 2018. This is a yearly short course for residents at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
07/2018 – Second course in Comparative and Experimental Approaches to Aging Biology Research. This is a signature course for the MDI Bio Lab, bringing together leading experts in the field of aging to both lecture and provide hands-on training for investigators new to the field.
03/2018 – Jordan Horrocks joined the lab as a research assistant. Welcome!
01/2018 – Jarod left the lab to accept an Assistant Professor position. Great work, Jarod!
08/2017 – Aric, along with Lew Lipsitz, MD, Chief of Gerontology at Beth Israel and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, developed and taught an aging module in a course entitled Comparative Physiology: BIDMC 2017. This is a yearly short course for residents at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
04/2017 – Lab awarded an R21 from the NIH related to novel discoveries on the role of nonsense mediated decay and alternative splicing in healthful adaptation to dietary restriction.
04/2017 – Our second original research article is published in J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. This manuscript addresses the relationship between lifespan and healthspan by utilizing nematode strains with mutations in genes that positively regulate longevity.
12/2016 – Our first original research article is published in Aging Cell. This manuscript identified HSR priming and a dependence on the HSF-1 gene as the key to heightened somatic maintenance under low translation conditions.
09/2016 – Aric is invited to talk at the University of Maine, Orono.
08/2016 – Aric, along with Lew Lipsitz, MD, Chief of Gerontology at Beth Israel and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, developed and taught an aging module in a course entitled Comparative Physiology: BIDMC 2016. This is a yearly short course for residents at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
07/2016 – Jarod and Aric are invited to present at the C. elegans Aging meeting in Madison, WI.
06/2016 – Summer students Isaiah Mansour, Sarah Dobbins, and Noah Lind join the lab. Welcome!
06/2016 – Inaugural launch of a new aging-focused course developed by Aric entitled “Comparative and Experimental Approaches to Aging Biology Research.” This course is a signature course for the MDI Bio Lab and brought together leading experts in the field of aging to both lecture and provide hands-on training for investigators new to the field.
03/2016 – Aric tells a bit of his backstory and how he got here for The Story Collider, where scientists tell their personal tales.
03/2016 – Aric is invited to speak in the 5-minute “genius” lightning talk at the Maine Science Festival entitled “Increasing the healthy span of life with anti-aging therapeutics: A new frontier in biomedicine.”
02/2016 – Markus Schosserer comes to the lab as a visiting scientist from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Here, he will investigate the role of ribosomal RNA methylation in adaptive responses that leads to differential translation. Welcome Markus!
09/2015 – Jarod is featured in the ASBMB policy news after participating in Hill Day, where he invited U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, to visit our lab! During the visit to the lab, he shared with Representative Poliquin how funding by the NIH has fostered job creation in our state and led to the development of new potential therapeutics. Great job, Jarod!
08/2015 – Amber leaves the lab to start as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maine Augusta. Way to go, Amber!
08/2015 – Aric is a panelist for discussion at the MDI Biological Laboratory screening of “Outrunning Parkinson’s.”
08/2015 – Aric is the featured speaker and talks about how nutrients change the activity of specific genes at the MDI Biological Laboratory “Taste of Science” Dinner for the Star Point Society and guests.
07/2015 – Frauke Adamla rejoins the lab as part of a continuing collaboration with Zoya Ignatova’s lab in Hamburg. Welcome Frauke!
07/2015 – Amber, Jarod, and Aric present posters at the Biology of Aging GRC entitled “The Translational Science of Aging: From Functional Pathways to Interventions.”
07/2015 – Dmitriy Skoog leaves the lab to further his education in the GSBSE program. Congratulations Dmitriy!
06/2015 – Amber and Jarod present their work at the COBRE Comparative Biology of Tissue Repair, Regeneration, and Aging Symposium.
04/2015 – Aric presents ongoing work from the lab to the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellows.
04/2015 – Amber and Jarod present their work at the 42nd Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium.
09/2014 – Santina Snow joins the lab as a research assistant. Welcome Santina!
08/2014 – Matt Newsom leaves the lab to begin as an instructor at the University of Maine Orono. Congratulations Matt!
07/2014 – Dr. Zoya Ignatova and Frauke Adamla join the lab as visiting scientists and as part of a collaboration investigating translation frame-shifting in C. elegans. Welcome Zoya and Frauke!
06/2014 – Aric presents ongoing work from the lab to the Blue Hill Forum, a community group of retired professionals that includes business executives, attorneys, physicians, authors and artists.
06/2014 – Paola Brana and Charles Allen join the lab for summer internships. Welcome!
04/2014 – Amber and Jarod present their projects related to aging interventions involving eIF4G and dietary restriction, respectively, at the 41st annual Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium
04/2014 – Results from a collaboration with a lab at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Title “mTORC1/C2 and pan-HDAC inhibitors synergistically impair breast cancer growth by convergent AKT and polysome inhibiting mechanisms.” Link to publication
02/2014 – Aric and Jarod co-present at Dartmouth University and The Jackson Laboratory on dietary restriction and it’s effect on post-transcriptional gene regulation.
02/2014 – As the University of Maine at Farmington celebrates its first 150 years, Aric delivers the keynote address for the Biology portion of the Farmington Forum Series in a talk entitled “The Science Behind Increasing Human Lifespan and Delaying Age-related Decline in the 21st Century.” UMF News
01/2014 – Jarod presents a poster on the effect of dietary restriction on post-transcriptional gene regulation at the Keystone Symposium on Aging in Colorado.
01/2014 – The lab publishes in Ageing Research Reviews. Title: “Role of translation initiation factor 4G in lifespan regulation and age-related health.” Link to publication
10/2013 – Dmitriy Skoog joins the lab as a Research Assistant. Welcome!
09/2013 – Aric presents “Increasing Maximum Human Lifespan and Healthspan: Are We Close?” at the Asticou Inn as part of the the MDIBL-sponsored Science Cafe series. Click to view
08/2013 – Amber presents her work on tissue-specific lifespan effects of eIF4G at the Gordon Research Conference on the Biology of Aging in Lucca, Italy.
07/2013 – Aric talks about aging research in his lab in an interview with International Innovation. Click for PDF
06/2013 – Aric receives The Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award.
06/2013 – The lab is joined by summer students DJ Brookes, Sarah Castor, and Tyler Ham. Welcome!
06/2013 – Lab website up and running. Way to go, Matt!
04/2013 – Jarod and Amber are awarded spots in the Molecular Biology of Aging course at Woods Hole. Top scientists in the area of aging research are instructors in this intensive three week course. Congrats!
03/2013 – The lab is joined by research assistant Matt Newsom and postdocs Amber Howard and Jarod Rollins. Welcome!
02/2013 – Rogers Lab is born, fueled by Mount Desert Island Biological Lab start-up and a National Institute on Aging R00 Award. See related article: New MDI Bio Lab Researcher Intent on Extending Lifespans