Meet Maeve McNamara of Harvard Medical School! She is a post-graduate visiting research fellow in Dr. David Sinclair’s lab working primarily with Dr. Daniel Vera and Dr. Alice Kane. Maeve joined the Sinclair lab in virtually attending the 2020 Mechanisms of Aging meeting where a number of the lab members presented their work; including a poster she co-authored with Graduate Student Patrick Griffin titled “TIME-Seq: A method to identify regulators of biological aging based on high-throughput sequencing of epigenetic clocks.”

Tell us about your research.
I am working with a group of talented post-docs and graduate students to build clocks that measure the rate of aging in humans and mice. We are also performing screens to identify factors that can rejuvenate aged cells to a younger, healthier state.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
David is a pioneer in the aging field, and I wanted to join his group to gain expertise in reprogramming and epigenetic analysis. I’m drawn to epigenetics as a phenomenon which explains how both genetic and environmental factors work synergistically to influence biological outcomes. I’ve learned immensely from David’s leadership and through collaborative work with Daniel Vera, Alice Kane and Amber Mueller, three post-docs in our lab.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My most meaningful clinical experiences have been in the company of aging adults and terminally ill patients. In my undergraduate thesis, as a biology and film double major, I directed a documentary that highlighted the experiences of four older women coming into old age. These experiences fuel my passion for understanding aging in multi-disciplinary ways. I’m drawn to the aging field as an inherently interdisciplinary space for scientific discovery.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I am currently applying to MD and MD/PhD programs. In my future career, I hope to be a leader in geriatric medicine and translational research with a focus on epigenetics, biomarker discovery, and health-span interventions. I hope to be an advocate for our ever-growing aging population through clinical compassion and research innovation.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
I rarely do the same thing from one day to the next—I love the problem-solving, creativity and grit that research demands. I’m thankful for the incredible research mentors throughout my early career who have shared with me their love for scientific discovery. The opportunity to collaborate with multi-disciplinary scientists gives me energy and inspiration. I hope to someday be a mentor for young girls and women who want to pursue careers in science and medicine, as I know how critical this has been for my own journey to science.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
Our entire lab attends this meeting every year. Although I was looking forward to attending my first Cold Spring Harbor meeting in person, I’ve had a fantastic experience so far.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
The aging field is endlessly fascinating and it pays dividends to have multi-disciplinary collaborators who can bring novel perspectives and techniques to deepen your research questions.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?
Take advantage of opportunities to meet fellow colleagues!

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
I was really proud to see two of colleagues, Alice Kane and Jae-Hyun Yang present their work during the Systems Biology and Epigenetics sessions. It was great to meet fellow aging scientists in the Thursday morning breakfast session!

Thank you to Maeve for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Maev McNamara