W.M. Keck Foundation Funds MIT Research on Immune System's Role in Healthy Aging

Assistant Professor Alison Ringel has received a prestigious grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to investigate the intersection of immunology and aging biology at MIT. The funding will support groundbreaking research aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying aging-related decline and potentially developing new approaches to extend healthy years of life.

Ringel, who is also a core member of the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard, brings her expertise in cancer immunology to this new line of inquiry. Her work will focus on CD8+ T cells, a critical component of the immune system known for targeting and destroying cancerous or damaged cells.

As we age, our tissues accumulate senescent cells—cells that can no longer divide. While these cells are present throughout our lives, they reach harmful levels as a normal part of aging, causing tissue damage and diminished resilience under stress. Ringel's research will explore whether the immune system plays a more active role in aging than previously thought.

"Decades of research have revealed that T cells can eliminate cancer cells, and studies of how they do so have led directly to the development of cancer immunotherapy," Ringel explains. "Building on these discoveries, we can now ask what roles T cells play in normal aging, where the accumulation of senescent cells, which are remarkably similar to cancer cells in some respects, may cause health problems later in life."

In animal models, reconstituting elements of a young immune system has been shown to improve age-related decline, potentially due to CD8+ T cells selectively eliminating senescent cells. Ringel's research will investigate whether CD8+ T cells progressively losing the ability to cull senescent cells could explain some age-related pathology.

Her approach involves building specialized models to track and manipulate T cells in the context of aging, evaluating how T cell behavior changes over a lifespan. By defining the protective processes that slow aging when we are young and healthy, and understanding how these processes go awry in older adults, Ringel aims to generate knowledge that can be applied to extend healthy years of life.

"It is such an honor to receive this grant," Ringel says. "This support will enable us to draw new connections between immunology and aging biology. As the U.S. population grows older, advancing this research is increasingly important, and this line of inquiry is only possible because of the W.M. Keck Foundation."

The W.M. Keck Foundation, established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Co., is one of the nation's largest philanthropic organizations. The foundation supports outstanding science, engineering, and medical research, as well as undergraduate education and programs within Southern California supporting arts and culture, education, health, and community service projects.

This research comes at a critical time when modern science and medicine have greatly expanded global life expectancy, yet it remains unclear why everyone ages differently. Some individuals maintain physical and cognitive fitness well into old age, while others become debilitatingly frail later in life. Understanding these differences could have profound implications for public health and quality of life for aging populations.

Ringel's work represents a novel approach to healthy aging research, leveraging insights from cancer immunology to address fundamental questions about the aging process. By exploring the immune system's role in maintaining tissue health throughout life, this research could potentially identify new therapeutic targets for age-related diseases and interventions to promote healthy longevity.

The grant underscores MIT's commitment to innovative biomedical research and highlights the growing recognition of immunology's potential to address complex biological challenges beyond infectious disease and cancer. As Ringel notes, this line of inquiry would not be possible without the support of the W.M. Keck Foundation, demonstrating the crucial role that philanthropic organizations play in advancing scientific discovery.

For more information about Alison Ringel's research, visit the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard or the MIT Department of Biology.