How age-related failure of fat tissue makes burns harder to recover from
Official title: Adverse outcomes of aged mice are associated with adipose tissue failure after burn
Funded at Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation · NIH-11112407 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests whether age-related breakdown of fat tissue and low cellular energy make burns more dangerous for older adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Hamilton, Canada) |
| Project start | September 30, 2023 |
| Project end | May 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $327,984 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG080040-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11112407 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are older adults with recent moderate-to-severe burn injuries who are treated at participating burn centers, especially those able to provide tissue or blood samples.
✕Less likely to help
People without burn injuries, with only minor burns not requiring hospital care, or those whose conditions are unrelated to adipose or metabolic dysfunction are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
If you are an older adult who suffers a serious burn, doctors on this project collect clinical information and tissue samples to compare your fat tissue and blood with those from younger adults and laboratory models. The team will look at whether older patients lack the normal 'browning' response of fat after a burn and will measure mitochondrial health and NAD levels in fat cells. They use aged mice alongside human samples to link molecular changes in fat to worse outcomes and to explore pathways that might be restored. Findings could point toward treatments that support the immune and metabolic responses after burns in older adults.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could lead to treatments that restore fat-tissue metabolism and improve recovery and survival after burns in older adults.
How similar studies have gone: Prior animal and some human work has linked adipose browning and mitochondrial health to burn responses, but applying these findings specifically to older adults is a newer and less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
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Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation
Hamilton, Canada Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Jeschke, Marc Gerhard — Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation
- Study coordinator: Jeschke, Marc Gerhard
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.