Jamie N. Justice, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (transition to Instructor, Fall 2017) in Internal Medicine Section on Gerontology and Geriatrics, and Sticht Center of Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Justice’s research interests are in 1) the integrative (biologic to systemic) mechanisms that mediate aging and their functional consequences (e.g., the role of cellular senescence), and 2) interventions to improve healthspan – i.e. prevent or delay adverse functional decline, and the onset of age-related disability and chronic diseases. Her research experience includes translational experimental approaches that span preclinical studies in animal models of aging to clinical trials investigating agents that target the biologic mechanisms of aging. This work includes efforts to launch the proposed groundbreaking clinical trial, Targeting Aging with MEtformin (TAME), which is designed to be a prototype for future trials to test promising agents identified by geroscience (biology of aging) research.
Background and Training: Dr. Justice received her M.S. and Ph.D. training under under Dr. Roger Enoka, a renowned investigator in biomechanics and neurophysiology at the University of Colorado Boulder. She then completed her first 2-year postdoctoral fellowship also at University of Colorado Boulder,under Dr. Douglas Seals, Professor of Distinction, in the Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory, where she gained a uniquely translational research portfolio. During this postdoctoral fellowship, Jamie became involved with the NIH-R24 supported Geroscience Network, an interdisciplinary group that seeks to accelerate translation of effective interventions on the biology of aging to delay or prevent age-related diseases/disability collectively, rather than one at a time. She joined their Faculty Exchange Program in 2014, and participated in 3 retreats, and helped develop peer-reviewed publications, and participated in planning endeavors for clinical trials in aging (including TAME trial). Since moving to Wake Forest School of Medicine in July 2015, Dr. Justice's primary interest is to determine the impact of cellular senescence on healthspan (physical and metabolic function) and she is intrigued by the possibility of therapeutically targeting senescence to impart meaningful change on healthspan.
In addition to these research endeavors, Dr. Jamie Justice has demonstrated a commitment to science and aging research through teaching, peer-mentoring, service and leadership positions: 1) co-instructing and co-developing a graduate seminar on aging physiology; 2) junior-mentor 15 students (6 grad, 9 UG); 3) service to CU’s Institutional Review Board (3 yr) and Study Monitoring Committee (2 yr); 4) Biological Sciences section representative to the GSA’s Emerging Scholars program (2014-2016), and 5) serving as Chair-Elect-Elect for ESPO (elected 2017). She has also been honored to attend the NIA supported Butler-Williams Scholars Program (2016) and Summer Training Course in Experimental Aging Research (2017).Throughout these activities Jamie has championed inter-professional collaboration and enhanced opportunities within aging research for women and early-career and transitional scholars.