THE SCIENCE OF METABOLISM AND HEALTHY AGING

September 21, 2020

EVENTS

Harvard BBS Graduate Student Talia Hart receives a perfect "10" score on her NIH R36 proposal to study mechanisms of healthy aging. Congratulations Talia!

ABOUT THE SOUKAS LAB

We use genetic approaches from human to mouse to worm

to uncover the mysteries of aging and aging-associated diseases

such as diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

Our work informs the next generation of therapies aimed at promoting health in humans.

The Soukas Lab is located within the Center for Genomic Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. We are centrally situated in downtown Boston in the state-of-the-art Simches Research Building, a multidisciplinary research center with investigators in Molecular Biology, Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Cancer Biology, Systems Biology, Cardiovascular Research, and Genomics.

The lab is also an Associate Member Lab of the

Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and has access to all the technology and capabilities the Broad has to offer.

To see what the lab is up to scientifically, see OUR SCIENCE

OUR SCIENCE

Genetic Approaches to Promote Healthy Aging, and

Prevent and Treat Obesity, Diabetes, and Cancer

This is a picture o metabolic pathways that increase and decrease body fat mass. They represent candidat obesity and diabetes genes

This is the chemical structure of the antdiabetic medication metformin, the world's most commonly used medication for type 2 diabetes. The Soukas Lab is studying the mechanisms by which metformin improves health, prevents and treats cancers, and extends lifespan.

Alex Soukas, MD, PhD

Dr. Soukas is the Weissman Family MGH Research Scholar in the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center Metabolic Phenotyping Core at Harvard Medical School, Associate Director of the Boston Area Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center, and Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Dr. Soukas received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, and Ph.D. from the Rockefeller University studying the weight-loss mechanisms of the obesity hormone leptin. Dr. Soukas completed Internal Medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the MGH. Dr. Soukas is the recipient of numerous awards including the Charles H. Hood Award in Child Health, the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award, the American Federation of Aging Research 2014 Research Investigator Award, the 2014 MGH Howard M. Goodman Fellowship, an Excellence in Tutoring Award from Harvard Medical School, the 2017 MGH Martin Prize for Fundamental Research, the 2017 Glenn Award in Basic Biology of Aging, and a 2018 MGH Research Scholar Award.

Dr. Soukas’ research program focuses on identification of new means to promote healthy aging. Using a combination of genetic approaches in model systems from cells, to worms, to mice, Dr. Soukas’ laboratory has determined how the anti-diabetic medication metformin exerts its anti-cancer and anti-aging effects.

SOUKAS LAB

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Pages from Yerevanian_Soukas_Metformin_O

Metabolic Phenotyping Core

Nutrition Obesity Research Center of Harvard

Model Creation

Creation of Medically Relevant Models via Genomic Targeting in a Variety of Cell Types

siRNA, shRNA, CRISPR
Primary Hepatocytes and Adipocytes
Immortalized Cells
iPS Cells and iPS derived Hepatocyte-Like Cells and Adipocyte-Like Cells

Phenotyping Assays

A Panel of Sophisticated Metabolic Phenotyping Assays Can be Carried Out on Primary Human, Mouse, or Model-Derived Samples

Metabolomics and Lipidomics
Mitochondrial Function
Insulin Signaling Assays
Hepatocyte Glucose Output
Lipolysis Assays
MRI Body Composition Analysis (Mice)
Energy Expenditure in mice (Sable Promethion)

CONTACT THE SOUKAS LAB

Soukas Laboratory

Massachusetts General Hospital

Harvard Medical School

Simches Research Building

185 Cambridge Street

Boston, MA 02114

Research Associate / Technician Position in the Soukas Lab

Research associate / technician positions available in the Soukas Laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts. The Soukas Laboratory uses vertebrate and invertebrate model systems to study the genetic pathways that contribute to healthy aging, obesity and diabetes.

The research associate will participate in the exciting science in the Soukas Lab and have the opportunity to spearhead scientific research as a key member of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center of Harvard. The research associate will conduct state of the art metabolic research spanning from analysis of metabolism and gene expression to genome engineering and metabolic model creation.

MORE INFORMATION / TO APPLY