RESEARCH INTERESTS:  The overall goal of my research is to understand how oxidative stress affects structure and function of the specific proteins that play important roles in aging and age-related diseases, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) for example. Because protein is a primary target for oxidative damage, it is conceivable that altered protein structure could have deleterious effects on normal cellular homeostasis and contribute to the acceleration of aging and disease pathology. Therefore, identifying the target proteins that are affected structurally and functionally is absolutely necessary in understanding the underlying mechanisms of aging and disease progression. I have been actively involved in developing various novel fluorescence-based proteomic technologies to identify the potential target proteins that are oxidized and conformationally altered with aging and various pathological conditions. I am also actively involved in comparative biology research using various rodent models including the unique long-lived rodent, the naked mole-rat, and mammals namely, short- and long-lived bat species to determine whether the efficient maintenance of protein homeostasis is a determinant for mammalian longevity.