Leena Habiballa

• NIHR Newcastle BRC PhD student

Leena studied Genetics at University College London and Genomic Medicine at the University of Manchester, giving her an interest in the mechanisms through which senescence pathways collectively modulate the ageing phenotype.

Now as an NIHR Newcastle BRC PhD student, Leena has joined Dr Joao Passos’ lab in order to investigate Musculoskeletal Disease and the role of cellular senescence in skeletal muscle ageing. With age, our muscular function and strength decline, leading to loss of muscle mass and capacity for physical activity, known as sarcopenia. The goal of the project is to characterise the nature of cellular senescence in ageing muscle, determine the signalling pathways involved, and identify possible interventions to improve health outcomes in ageing populations.