Bernardo Lemos

Bernardo Lemos earned a PhD in 2007 from Harvard University studying evolutionary and population genomics of the Y-chromosome and the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) arrays. He then led the laboratory of environmental epigenetics at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and now serves as Professor and Coit Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegeneration at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona. His lab currently collaborates in projects examining human populations in China, Bangladesh, and the USA, as well as experimental studies in cell systems and model organisms. He focuses on the rDNA and the impact of dietary interventions and exposure to environmental toxicants on the genome and epigenome. He has recently developed the first long-range interaction map of the rDNA using Hi-C technology as well as developed the rDNA aging clock, an evolutionarily conserved marker of aging that is applicable to humans, mice, and other mammals. The rDNA clock can address chronological age in individuals of unknown age as well as biological age in response to interventions and toxicants. He has been awarded an Ellison Foundation New Scholars in Aging Award and a Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research. Research in his laboratory has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Aging (NIA), and National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).