Assistant Professor of Comparative Medicine; Director, Comparative Pathology Research, Comparative Medicine
The Cellular Senescent Network (SenNet) Program at Yale
What is cellular senescence?
The state when cells can no longer divide, a permanent condition that can be beneficial and detrimental to the organism where the cells live. Senescent cells are involved in normal biological processes and chronic diseases associated with aging, including cancer and neurodegeneration.
What is SenNet?
An NIH Common Fund supported national effort to study cellular senescence – including $125 million through 20 grants over five years to identify biomarkers of senescent cells in humans and mice and construct high-resolution, detailed maps of cellular senescence across the lifespan and physiological states. Data will be shared publicly to accelerate understanding of the aging process and the development of therapeutics.
What is Yale’s SenNet program?
The SenNet Program at Yale includes the Yale Human Tissue Mapping Center for Cellular Senescence in Lymphoid Organs and the Yale-Murine Tissue Mapping Center. The central goal of the SenNet program is to map senescent cells in humans, and studies in mice will enable researchers to ask questions about environmental factors, preventative strategies, and pre-clinical issues related to senescence.
The Yale Human Tissue Mapping Center was awarded a $6.5 million grant to help generate multiscale molecular and cellular maps of cellular senescence in primary and secondary human lymphoid organs to improve our understanding of cellular senescence in development, aging, and disease, including cancer. Co-principal investigators are Rong Fan, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pathology, and Stephanie Halene, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology) and Chief of Hematology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital.
The Yale-Murine SenNet Center was awarded an $11 million grant to use high-throughput, high-resolution single-cell and spatial omics technologies to characterize senescent cell heterogeneity with special emphasis on the immune cells in various tissues. This data resource will advance the understanding of senescent cells, their biomarkers and mechanism of aging. Co-principal investigators are Vishwa Deep Dixit, DVM, PhD, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Pathology and of Immunology, and Ruth Montgomery, PhD, Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases).
Comprehensive Underrepresented Summer Internship Program (CUSP) Summer Internships for Underrepresented Trainees
The National Institute of Health’s Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet) announces the opening of applications for the 2024 Comprehensive Underrepresented Summer Internship Program (CUSP), a training opportunity for undergraduate students from populations historically underrepresented in science. These trainees will learn the latest senescence research and technologies in SenNet host labs and participate in the annual SenNet meeting as a valuable career development and networking opportunity. Overall, the National Institute on Aging is optimistic about the future of SenNet, not only for its potential to advance human health research, but also for the opportunities the program can offer to early-career scientists interested in this promising field. For more information on CUSP, please visit the SenNet CUSP page. Applications open November 15, 2023 and close January 25, 2024 and can be found on SenNet's CUSP application page.
Yale SenNet Center – Team Members
Paul B. Beeson Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) and Professor of Immunobiology; Paul B. Beeson Professor of Medicine, Internal Medicine: Rheumatology; Program Director, Investigative Medicine, Internal Medicine: Rheumatology
Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Pathology and Professor of Immunobiology; Director, Yale Center for Research on Aging (Y-Age), Pathology
Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Professor, Pathology
Associate Professor of Pathology; Director, Section of Pathology Informatics and Cancer Data Science, Pathology
Associate Professor of Immunobiology; Director, In Vivo Imaging Facility, Yale School of Medicine; Scientific Director, Flow Cytometry Research Facility, YSM central core
Arthur H and Isabel Bunker Professor of Medicine (Hematology) and Professor of Pathology; Chief, Section of Hematology; Director, DeLuca Center for Innovation in Hematology Research, Yale Cancer Center; Assistant Medical Director CRSL, Yale Cancer Center; Chief, Translational Hematology
Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Professor of Dermatology and of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Sterling Professor of Immunobiology; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs, Dept Clinical: Internal Medicine
Professor of Pathology; Director of Hematopathology, Pathology; Director, Expert Consultation Practice, Pathology
Latest News
- February 26, 2023
Deadline Looms as SenNet Program at Yale Seeks Underrepresented Students for Summer Internships
- August 19, 2022
How Studying Cellular Senescence Can Help Researchers Learn to Delay Aging
- October 20, 2021
Q&A: Rong Fan on “senescent” cells and Yale’s new Tissue Mapping Center
- October 20, 2021
Tissue Mapping Center for Cellular Senescence Launched at Yale Cancer Center to Study Human Lymphoid Organs