Sean Curran (scientist)

Sean Curran is an associate professor in Gerontology at the USC Davis School of Gerontology with joint appointments in Molecular and Computational Biology (USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences) and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Keck School of Medicine of USC). He studies molecular genetics of exceptional longevity.^[1]

Research

Curran and his co-author Gary Ruvkun discovered approximately 60 highly conserved genes that are essential for development but can significantly increase lifespan when inactivated in adulthood.^[2]^[3]

Dr. Curran’s research group has established the existence of gene-diet pairs that predict survival and aging success. The function of these genes is essential on some diets but dispensable on others [1-2]. There are potentially hundreds, if not thousands of these gene-diet pairs, which when combined, may explain the variance in aging rates across individuals.

Awards

2014 Nathan Shock Award – Gerontological Society of America [3]

2015 Ewald Busse Award – Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development [4]

Biography

He earned his B.S. from UCLA in 1999, his Ph.D. from UCLA in 2004 and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital from 2004-2010.^[4]

Selected publications

Pang, S; Curran, SP (Feb 2014). "Adaptive capacity to bacterial diet modulates aging in C. elegans". Cell Metab. 19 (2): 221–31. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2013.12.005.
Curran, SP; Wu, X; Riedel, C; Ruvkun, G (Jun 2009). "A soma-to-germline transformation in long-lived Caenorhabditis elegans mutants". Nature. 459 (7250): 1079–84. doi:10.1038/nature08106.
Curran, SP; Ruvkun, G (2007). "Lifespan regulation by evolutionarily conserved genes essential for viability". PLoS Genet. 3 (4): e56. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0030056.eor.

References

^ 1. Pang, S. and S.P. Curran, Adaptive Capacity to Bacterial Diet Modulates Aging in C. elegans. Cell metabolism, 2014. 19(2): p. 221-31.
^ 2. Pang, S., et al., SKN-1 and Nrf2 couples proline catabolism with lipid metabolism during nutrient deprivation. Nat Commun, 2014. 5: p. 5048.
^ 3. https://www.geron.org/press-room/press-releases/2014-press-releases/371-curran-to-receive-gsa-s-2014-nathan-shock-new-investigator-award
^ 4. https://www.geron.org/membership/awards/awardees?showall=1

↑ "Sean Curran Faculty Profile". USC Davis School of Gerontology. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
↑ Wade, Nicholas (9 June 2009). "In Worms, Genetic Clues to Extending Longevity". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
↑ Keim, Brandon (8 June 2009). "The Secret to Roundworm Longevity: Sex Cells". Wired. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
↑ "CCIB: Ruvkun Lab". Retrieved 20 March 2012.

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