Maria Ermolaeva

Maria Ermolaeva is a Group Leader at the Leibniz Institute on Aging (FLI) and co-conceived the Center for Aging Research Jena (ZAJ) with Prof. Holger Bierhoff. Her lab employs Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes and mammalian cell/organoid cultures to investigate aging mechanisms, focusing on metabolic alterations, stress responses, and host-microbiome interactions.

• Key Collaborations: Friedrich Schiller University, Thuringian Ministry of Economics, European Social Fund
• Research Themes: Mitochondrial homeostasis, Proteostasis, Epigenetic changes, CRISPR screens for ER stress

Research Focus: The lab explores how age-related metabolic shifts, proteotoxic stress, and microbiota influence neuronal aging and protein aggregation disorders. Projects include:

• Characterizing UV-B as a dietary restriction mimetic
• Linking nucleolar integrity to aging diagnostics
• Identifying probiotics for longevity
• Studying circadian clock disruption in proteostasis
• CRISPR-based longevity gene discovery

Publication Trends: Recent work emphasizes mitochondrial bioenergetics, lipid metabolism, and hormetic stress responses. Collaborations span proteomics core facilities and European research networks.

Students: Supervises doctoral candidates and postdocs including Prerana Shrikant Chaudhari, Xuemin Gong, and Eberechukwu Maryann Okoli.

Core Facilities: Utilizes FLI's proteomics, lipidomics, and CRISPR screening platforms. Partners with Thuringian industry for translational applications.