Press Releases

Thanks to a $75,000 grant from The Cotswold Foundation, the MDI Biological Laboratory will add the African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) to its growing roster of animal models, thus strengthening the institution’s longstanding tradition of engaging in comparative research to gain an understanding of the mechanisms involved in aging and regeneration.

Scientists at the MDI Biological Laboratory, in collaboration with scientists from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, Calif., and Nanjing University in China, have identified synergistic cellular pathways for longevity that amplify lifespan fivefold in C. elegans, a nematode worm used as a model in aging research.

A new paper by MDI Biological Laboratory scientists Jarod Rollins, Ph.D., and Aric Rogers, Ph.D., describes the mechanisms by which longevity is regulated in the cell. The identification of these mechanisms will serve as a road map for screening new, more specific drugs to prolong healthy lifespan.

The MDI Biological Laboratory has announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a grant in the amount of $373,500 per year for five years to Aric Rogers, Ph.D., to support his research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing aging.

The MDI Biological Laboratory has announced that James A. Coffman, Ph.D., has received a two-year grant totaling $166,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his research on the regulation of cortisol, a naturally occurring steroid that governs how the body responds to stress.

The interface between regeneration and aging will be the subject of a “Resetting the Aging Clock” lecture series for the public by leading scientists in the field of regenerative biology and aging to be held July 22 through Aug. 1 at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Faculty member Vicki P. Losick, Ph.D., will deliver the inaugural William Procter lecture on the fruit fly as a model for the study of retinal diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, at the MDI Biological Laboratory.

University of Maine neuroscientist Kristy Townsend, Ph.D., will talk about factors contributing to the national epidemic of obesity and overweight and steps individuals can take to control their weight at an MDI Science Café presentation at the MDI Biological Laboratory.

Vicki P. Losick, Ph.D.has been named as the inaugural recipient of an award from the William Procter Scientific Innovation Fund. The award will support her research at the MDI Biological Laboratory on