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Onco-Aging Consortium (OAC)

Image of KRAS-driven lung cancer overlayed with "Onco-Aging Consortium"

Onco-Aging Consortium

The OAC is a joint NCI and National Institute on Aging (NIA) program funded through RFA-CA-20-040. It was established to support research addressing key questions regarding how hallmarks of aging lead to impaired cellular activities and alterations in the microenvironment that contribute to the development and outgrowth of cancer-initiating cells (CICs). 

The OAC supports interdisciplinary teams that combine aging and cancer expertise with approaches to decipher the biological pathways during aging that contribute to cancer initiation.
 

OAC News and Highlights

Research Advances from the OAC

Uncovering how age-related changes contribute to cancer initiation and progression.

Using single-cell RNA-sequencing and a preclinical model of DNMT3A-mutant clonal hematopoiesis, researchers with the Jackson Laboratory OAC Project found that precancerous blood cells can alter the bone marrow environment by causing nearby support cells to become senescent, which in turn helps the abnormal blood cells grow and progress toward cancer. 

According to Dr. Jennifer Trowbridge (lead investigator of the study), "That knowledge could help us identify much earlier who is at the greatest risk of developing blood cancer. It also gives us new ideas for how to stop or slow the disease before someone is ever diagnosed.”

OAC Meetings

  • OAC Annual investigators Meeting - Aug. 14, 2026
  • OAC Annual investigators Meeting - Sept. 15 - 16, 2025
  • OAC Annual Investigators Meeting – Sept. 9 - 10, 2024
  • OAC Kick-Off Meeting – Feb. 17 - 18, 2022

 

DCB Contact for OAC

For additional information about the OAC, please contact Dr. Margaret Klauzinska. 

Funded Projects

InstitutionPrincipal Investigator(s)Project Title
Fred Hutchison Cancer Research CenterWilliam M. Grady, Matt KaeberleinThe role of the senescent microenvironment on cancer initiating cells in the colon
Harvard Medical SchoolMarcia Haigis, Carla F. KimProgenitor cell states contributing to aging and lung cancer
Jackson LaboratorySheng Li, James V. DegregoriImpact of aging and clonal hematopoiesis on epigenetic heterogeneity, evolvability, and leukemogenesis
Jackson LaboratoryJennifer J. Trowbridge, Ross L. LevineAssessing the interplay between inflammatory signaling and epigenetic dysregulation in age-associated clonal hematopoiesis and leukemia initiation
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterScott W. LoweImpact of the aging niche on cancer phenotypes probed using mouse cancer models produced by somatic engineering
Stanford UniversityMonte M. WinslowDissecting the interplay between aging, genotype and the microenvironment in lung cancer
University of California, San DiegoRobert A.J. Signer, Jeffrey A. MageeThe influence of proteostasis loss in aging hematopoietic stem cells on leukemia initiation
University of MichiganGary J. Fisher, Andrej A. Dlugosz, Taihao QuanThe aging cutaneous microenvironment and cancer initiation
University of MichiganMegan M. Weivoda, Thomas L.G. Andersen, Matthew T. DrakeRole of senescence in multiple myeloma tumorigenesis
University of PittsburghLan Coffman, Ronald J. Buckanovich, Toren FinkelDefining the impact of stromal aging on ovarian cancer initiation
University of Texas Health Science CenterSun LuzheAging-associated mammary cancer-initiating cells
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