Biological Aging and Geroscience

Background

My current research program is increasingly centered in geroscience: the study of biological processes that shape aging, resilience, and risk for age-related disease. I use high-dimensional omics data, cohort studies, clinical laboratory data, and computational statistics to develop, implement, and validate measures of biological aging.

Epigenetic clocks and related biomarkers are useful because they summarize molecular information into measures that can be compared across people, populations, tissues, and interventions. They are also imperfect. A major part of my work is therefore methodological and translational: determining what these measures capture, when they are useful, how they behave in diverse study designs, and how they can be applied responsibly in epidemiology and public health.

Current Work

I apply these tools across long-running population cohorts, randomized controlled trials, and clinical datasets. This includes work with the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, randomized trials of geroprotective interventions such as caloric restriction, and emerging projects that use electronic health record laboratory measures to study biological resilience and recovery after major clinical stressors.

Across these settings, my goal is to connect molecular measures of aging to interpretable questions: who ages faster or slower, which exposures alter aging trajectories, which biomarkers predict resilience, and how well measures developed in one population or clinical context transport to another.

Research Direction

I am particularly interested in multi-omic approaches to biological aging. DNA methylation remains a core tool in my work, but I increasingly view epigenetic aging as one part of a broader measurement problem that also includes clinical chemistry, inflammation, immune function, metabolomics, proteomics, and longitudinal health outcomes.

This work is designed to support both basic geroscience and applied population health. Better aging measures should help clarify the biology of stress and resilience, improve the evaluation of geroprotective interventions, and identify earlier windows for preventing chronic disease and functional decline.