For Your Health
For Your Health

News from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences

Brown-Borg awarded Hevolution Foundation grant

Congratulations to Holly Brown-Borg, Ph.D., Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor with the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences, who has been awarded a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the Hevolution Foundation for a project entitled “Cellular mechanisms of frailty onset.” This project focuses on the underlying aging biology that leads to age-related dysfunction and disease.

“This five-year award will support research focused on defining mechanisms that contribute to the onset of frailty,” Brown-Borg noted, adding that the award is affiliated with her collaborator, Dr. LoDora Thompson, at Boston University. “Our project is aimed at determining the underlying factors that initiate muscle dysfunction with age. Once we determine the onset of the decline, we will study the mechanisms contributing to muscle dysfunction and then intervene by treating mice with a natural compound shown to reduce inflammation.” Her hope, added Brown-Borg, is that the project will demonstrate that the decline in physical and muscle function with age can be delayed or prevented leading to healthier life.