John Kopchick
Ohio University, OH·Physiology
Aging brings many diseases with it and places a large burden on the healthcare system. Treatments that could delay or even reverse age-related decline are badly needed.
- Fields
Physiology
Pharmacology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
aging
gerotherapeutics
healthspan
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2028
What they work on
- Test whether combining growth hormone receptor antagonism (blocking the receptor GH acts through, as the approved drug Somavert does) with other life-extending compounds improves health and lifespan more than each therapy alone.
- Determine the mechanistic changes produced by combining GHR antagonism with other gerotherapeutic compounds, prioritizing combinations of existing nutraceuticals and FDA-approved drugs.
- Assess whether growth hormone alters age-associated B cells, immune cells linked to aging-related disease, and how GHR antagonism changes them.
More about the research
Aging is driven by many processes at once, so a single drug may not be enough. Studies in animals now suggest that combining gerotherapeutics, meaning drugs aimed at slowing aging itself, can improve health and lifespan more than any one drug alone.
Why it matters
Older adults with age-related diseases could eventually benefit if combination treatments can delay those conditions. Because the GH receptor blocker in this work is already FDA-approved and judged safe in humans, and partner compounds favor existing nutraceuticals and approved drugs, effective combinations found in mice could point toward realistic strategies for extending healthy lifespan.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Christian Sell
Drexel University, PA·Biology
Test whether rapamycin, a drug that blocks the mTOR growth pathway, prevents cellular senescence (permanent cell-cycle arrest) by raising levels of the long non-coding RNA H19.
Joseph S Takahashi
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Physiology
Test whether time-restricted feeding, eating only within a daily window, can extend lifespan in mice without reducing calories, building on the finding that nighttime caloric restriction raises lifespan gain from 10% to 35%.
Laura Niedernhofer
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY·Genetics
Test whether rare gene variants found in centenarians extend healthspan by installing the mutation, or raising or lowering gene activity, in Ercc1-deficient mice, which have faulty DNA repair and age about six times faster than normal mice.
The school
Ohio University: 1 labs on PI Pages, $67M a year on research, 106 research doctorates a year.
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