Meet our ageing expert, who is also interested in accelerated ageing in space!

Driven by her aspiration to become a scientific researcher, Ghada embarked on an academic journey, gaining a MSc and PhD research at the University of Strasbourg. In 2017, she moved to University of Oxford to the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology as a postdoctoral researcher in the field of ageing. She discovered several of the biological processes disrupted during the ageing process. Notably, her recent findings highlighted the decreased presence of the master regulator of autophagy during ageing in human immune cells. Ageing of immune cells contributes to poorer immune responses of T and B cells in older people. Her discoveries uncovered potential targets for developing anti-ageing interventions focused on human T cells.

More recently, Ghada achieved a significant milestone by establishing the United Kingdom’s inaugural Space Innovation Lab at the Botnar Institute for Musculoskeletal Sciences, Oxford. The unique environment of space results in changes in various aspects of astronauts’ bodies, such as bone density, muscle mass, and cardiovascular function.  Indeed, microgravity can be considered as an ‘accelerated ageing model’ and provides an excellent platform to investigate ageing mechanisms that normally occur over a very long period on Earth. There has been relatively little research conducted on how space travel impacts the ageing process. Through her  collaboration between labs on Earth and Space science, Ghada aims to help advance cellular and molecular biology research within the realm of space exploration, with a focus on human physiology and health by investigating the impact of microgravity on ageing and age-related diseases.

Ghada has been an essential member of the IRFLUVA research team and their ageing research over the last 3 years, looking at the importance of ageing on the immune response to COVID-19 and how this may be altered by changes to diet. She is leading the laboratory based work for the IRFLUVA study and is very excited to start this work in September this year.

She is also an excellent cook!

You can read more about Ghada and her research by clicking on the link:  Alsaleh Group | Ageing in the musculoskeletal system and beyond earth — Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (ox.ac.uk)