Marcia Haigis, Ph.D.

Dr. Haigis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. She is also a member of the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging. Her research focuses on understanding the role that mitochondria play in mammalian aging and disease. Following graduate training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Biochemistry, Dr. Haigis studied the molecular role of SIR2 (silent information regulator) proteins during her postdoctoral research at MIT.  SIR2 regulates aging in multiple model organisms, including yeast, worms and flies. Mammals have seven homologs, which may regulate mammalian physiology and cell survival. As a Brookdale Fellow, Dr. Haigis will study the role of a mitochondrial, mammalian SIR2 homolog, SIRT4, and mitochondrial ADP-ribosylation during changes in diet, stress and age. The goals of this project are to identify novel targets of SIRT4 and to characterize their role during aging.