Announcing the Coit Center for Longevity & NeuroTherapeutics

A new Center for Excellence within the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy is driving a renewed college-wide effort focused on achieving healthy longevity and developing new therapeutics for age-related diseases.

Bernardo Lemos, PhD and Haining Zhu, PhD are both holders of an R. Ken and Donna Coit Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases and co-directors of the new center. 

Dr. Lemos earned his PhD in 2007 from Harvard University and his research focus is on genetics and epigenetics, which is the study of how interventions like calorie restriction and environment exposures impact the way genes function and modulate aging. He is specifically focused on biomarkers of aging and epigenetic clocks in the context of Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Zhu earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000. His research focus is on neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Lou Gehrig’s disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the causes leading to the death of neurons and the dysfunction of the neurological system leading to disease, and the discovery of novel therapeutics.   

Despite their different research foci, they both have a common theme and challenge bringing them together.

“We can be diverse scientifically. Some faculty are focused on molecular pathways and different mechanisms. Some are more clinical or translational. But in the end, we’re both interested in longevity, the process of healthy aging, and helping aging patients and the overall general population,” Dr. Zhu said.

The pair face an increasingly relevant challenge as the human population gets older and lives longer. According to a 2022 report by the Alzheimer’s Association, as the size of the U.S. population age 65 and older continues to grow, so too will the number and proportion of Americans with Alzheimer’s or other dementia. The same report states by 2050, the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer’s dementia is projected to reach 12.7 million.  

Together, they will bring together new and current faculty who have similar research interests, pool together resources, and develop new therapeutics to address age-related diseases. For instance, Dr. Xinlong Wang, the newest Coit Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases who joined the college in October, is a prolific expert on Alzheimer’s Disease, said Dr. Zhu.  

“Ultimately, the study of longevity, aging, the mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and their connection to specific diseases are all critical in finding new interventions and discovering new drug therapies,” Dr. Lemos said.

Dr. Lemos added the college is well positioned to capitalize on the Center’s work as current faculty have specialties and expertise in screening chemical compounds that can target specific pathways for carrying drugs into human cells as well as mechanistic understanding of relevant targets.

Both have also shared how the Center will have an open-door policy for current and future faculty to participate in their research endeavors. The hope is the confluence of different ideas and approaches will not only help the Center, but also provide value to others’ research.

One example of this cross-collaboration is with Dr. Wei Wang, the director of the Arizona Center for Drug Discovery.  

Faculty with medicinal chemistry expertise, such as Dr. Wang, Gregory Thatcher, PhD, and Chris Hulme, PhD, are valuable partners who can contribute a great deal of knowledge and expertise around the drug discovery, said Dr. Zhu.