We want to better understand why some people develop certain disease as they age, while others don’t. We think that by looking at how our genes change their behavior as the body grows older, we can gain new insights into how the aging process leads to disease, and into the aging process itself. This is not only relevant to the typical diseases of the elderly (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, dementia and cancer), but also to younger people who develop diseases that are occur at specific age intervals (e.g. MS, infertility, certain cancers).
The project will perform advanced mathematical analyses of the regulation of genes, to develop new computer methods that can predict and explain the development of disease. Our goal is to eventually make new diagnostics, such as blood tests, that can be used to catch age-related diseases earlier and more accurately, so that patients will receive earlier and better treatment.