Alexis Janke
NIH T32 CoEvoD Fellow, Castiglione Lab
Alexis joined the CoEvoD program as a second-year trainee supported by the NIH / NIGMS T32 Training Grant in 2026.
Alexis explores the molecular systems evolution of a major lifespan-governing metabolic node in birds, which naturally live 3-4 times longer than mammals. She am investigating how the NRF2 gene regulatory network (GRN) has been rewired during bird evolution to promote cellular resilience and long lifespans in birds, with implications for novel targets for human aging. This research utilizes lifelong machine learning models combined with single cell multi-omics to infer differences in gene regulatory networks across species.