The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) recently named Christina Camell, PhD, as a recipient of the 2025 Glenn Foundation Discovery Award. This prestigious honor is designed to support researchers as they transition into new lines of inquiry within the biology of aging. For Dr. Camell, who is a faculty member of the Masonic Institute on the Biology of Aging and Metabolism (MIBAM), the award represents both a recognition of her lab’s past success and a gateway to significant new work.

Dr. Camell’s commitment to understanding the complexities of aging began long before she managed a laboratory. While working as a nurse aide in a nursing home during college, she witnessed the daily struggles of those facing the physical decline of their later years. "I cared for older people and got a lot of exposure to how hard life can be when you don't have a healthy immune system and a good quality of life," she said. This ignited a lifelong interest in how diseases become better or worse. Driven by a natural curiosity, she found her calling in science. "I really like the aspect of asking questions and making conclusions about being a scientist," she noted.

Housed within the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Dr. Camell’s lab centers on the immune system, specifically how it changes as we get older. "I started my lab in 2019, and we study the immune system with a focus on trying to understand how it becomes dysfunctional during aging. We're interested in natural, healthy aging," she explained. This focus is driven by the reality that age remains the primary driver of most major health challenges. "Age is the biggest risk factor for any disease out there.”

The selection process for the Discovery Award is competitive. Out of 190 letters of intent submitted by scientists across the country, only 15 were invited to submit full proposals, and just two recipients were ultimately chosen.

The study funded by the award focuses on innate immune cells called macrophages. These cells are the first line of defense against pathogens and help maintain tissue health, but as organisms age, macrophages can begin to send the wrong signals to the body. Dr. Camell’s team identified a specific signal called GDF3 that is secreted by old macrophages but not young ones. This signal leads to a "loss of cellular identity" in organs like the liver and muscle. "We think the GDF3 is causing, we called it, a loss of cellular identity, which was an important theme of the grant," she noted. While a liver cell might not stop being a liver cell, it loses the core functions that allow it to operate efficiently. The Glenn Foundation funding will allow her to test whether blocking this GDF3 signaling pathway can improve the overall healthspan of older organisms.

Beyond the scientific findings, Dr. Camell is grateful for the flexibility this award provides for her team, including the graduate students and staff scientists who drive the daily work. "In today's day and age, where federal funding is very challenging to receive, it's really nice to have additional funding come in from non-federal sources, because it means I can support my lab, and we can continue to move our projects forward," she said. The award marks a pivotal moment for her career and the future of aging research at the University of Minnesota. As Dr. Camell looks toward the future, her commitment to the field remains rooted in its global impact. "Aging is relevant to all of society and humanity.”
Source: https://med.umn.edu/news/university-minnesota-professor-dr-christina-camell-earns-2025-glenn-foundation-discovery-award