Cancer acts as an accelerator of aging. Furthermore, we know that cancer and cancer therapies can elicit aging-associated cognitive phenotypes and reveal or exacerbate underlying cognitive deficits, increase the risk of physical impairment, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic health conditions, and accelerate the hallmarks of aging.
Dr. Christin Burd and her team, from The Ohio State University, have been asking key questions about just that… age-acceleration in cancer. To understand this further, they have been researching cancer therapies, T cells, senescence, and p16 and how they are related to epigenetic aging.
T cells, senescence, and p16 are all known to play important roles in cancer development and progression. T cells are key players in the immune system’s response to cancer, while senescence is a process that limits the proliferation of damaged cells and is implicated in aging and cancer. P16 is a tumor suppressor gene that is often mutated in cancer cells. By studying the relationship between epigenetic clocks and these key factors, we hope to gain a better understanding of how cancer cells develop and progress, as well as how they may be treated. Aging biomarkers, including epigenetic clocks, may provide important answers to some of the most pressing questions in cancer research today.
In this week’s Everything Epigenetics podcast, Dr. Christin Burd speaks with me about the importance of biomarkers and epigenetic clocks for older adults with cancer, as epigenetic clocks are currently not trained on cancer populations. We also discuss the development of a new ‘p16INK4a epi-clock’ (that I am most excited about) which may allow for the measurement of different aspects of aging using the same platform.
Being an educator at The Ohio State University, Dr. Burd is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in science. Dr. Burd continues to focus her research on identifying mechanisms to prevent melanoma and improve clinical outcomes in older adults with cancer.
In this Everything Epigenetics episode, you’ll learn about:
– How Dr. Burd became interested in cancer and what led her to the career she has today
– Aging as a risk factor for cancer
– What cancer therapies are causing aging and how that process can be mitigated
– The collaboration between TruDiagnostic and Dr. Burd’s team
– Ohio State’s CARE Clinic
– The main mission of Dr. Burd’s lab
– Why we need biomarkers for older adults with cancer
– Using T cells to measure Epigenetic Age
– How T cell Epigenetic Age relates to clinical measures of faulty, cognitive decline, and toxicity risk
– Details of the cohort Dr. Burd is investigating
– How cancer therapies are related to Epigenetic Age
– How cancer patients Epigenetic Age relates to outcomes
– Senescence markers and how they are involved in Dr. Burd’s work
– The pros and cons of senescent cells
– How to measure senescent cells
– If T cell p16INK4a levels and Epigenetic Age are equivalent measures
– How p16 levels are currently measured
– How to get involved in the field of science
– Dr. Burd’s advice on navigating the transition from high school to college
– The grant application process and why there is a lack of understanding here
Dr. Christin Burd grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and received her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati where she worked with Dr. Karen Knudsen (now CEO of the American Cancer Society) on prostate cancer. Following postdoctoral training with Dr. Ned Sharpless (former NCI Director) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Burd joined the Ohio State faculty. Dr. Burd is now an Associate Professor in the Departments of Cancer Biology and Genetics, and Molecular Genetics at The Ohio State University’s James Comprehensive Cancer Center. Holding appointments in both the undergraduate college and medical school, Dr. Burd’s research is technically diverse, ranging from cell biology and biochemistry to animal models and human clinical trials. Dr. Burd’s research focuses on identifying mechanisms to prevent melanoma and improve clinical outcomes in older adults with cancer. Her contributions to science include discovery of the first human circular RNA associated with disease, development of the p16LUC mouse model to track aging and spontaneous tumor formation in live animals, and establishment of the mutant-specific role of oncogenic NRAS in melanoma formation. In recognition of her work, Dr. Burd has received both the Damon Runyon Innovation and Glenn Awards and currently serves on Scientific Advisory Councils for the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), Pan-American Society for Pigment Cell Research (PASPCR), and the NCI RAS Initiative. Ongoing projects in the Burd lab aim to prevent NRAS-mutant melanoma and understand the impact of T cell senescence on health and longevity.