NIA awards $1.5 million to expand Werner’s syndrome studies

Researchers will expand studies of a protein mutated in the rapid-aging disorder Werner’s syndrome, thanks to $1.5 million from the National Institute on Aging. Led by Robert Marciniak, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and a faculty member of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, scientists will seek to determine whether the protein fails to protect the ends of chromosomes, also called telomeres, which help maintain genetic stability.