RESEARCH INTERESTS: Treatments that increase longevity, by delaying or delaying or reducing the onset of multiple late-life diseases, could have a far greater benefit to quality of life than treatments targeted at single late-life diseases such as cancer or heart disease. Research in Dr. Strong's lab is aimed at understanding mechanisms of aging and age-related disease and evaluating potential therapeutic targets. His laboratory was one of three funded by the NIA Aging Interventions Testing Program that reported the landmark finding that rapamycin extends mammalian longevity, even when treatment is started late in life (Nature, 2009; J. Gerontol. 2011). Subsequent studies revealed that rapamycin delays or prevents pathology in several animal models of age-related diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Another current focus of Dr. Strong's lab is using genetically altered mice to investigate the role of excess biogenic aldehydes in Parkinson's disease and testing aldehyde trapping agents as a therapeutic approach.