Dr. Darren J. Baker received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Biology and Chemistry, master’s degree from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Tumor Biology and Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Pediatrics at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Additionally, he directs the Transgenic and Knockout Mouse Core Facility of Mayo Clinic and co-directs the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for Biology of Aging at Mayo Clinic. His laboratory is focused on the involvement of senescent cells to aging and age-related diseases.
Cellular senescence, an irreversible cell cycle arrest, is a potent anti-tumor mechanism that is also a common feature of aged tissue. Along with others at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Baker has developed and characterized a transgenic mouse model, termed INK-ATTAC, in which senescent cells can be selectively eliminated in an inducible fashion. Using this model model in combination with both accelerated and naturally aged mouse models has demonstrated an ability to significantly delay age-related pathologies and phenotypes. These results have spurred numerous new directions for how impacting a basic mechanism of aging may lead to novel therapeutics.
