Dr. Andrey Budanov is an assistant professor of the molecular biology of cancer and aging in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his PhD in 2002 and was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Michael Karin at the University of California, San Diego until 2011. He was a recipient of several fellowships and awards, such as postdoctoral fellowship from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, K99/R00 NCI NIH career development grant, W.E. Lower prize for the best publication at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Oxygen Club California BASF Young Investigator Award. He established his own laboratory in 2011.
Dr. Andrey Budanov main contributions were:
(1) Identification of the Sestrin2 gene as a stress-responsive and p53-regulated gene, involved in regulation of cell viability and cell growth.
(2) Characterization of antioxidant function of Sestrins.
(3) Discovery of the role of Sestrins in the regulation of the AMPK-mTOR pathway.
(4) Characterization of Sestrins as suppressors of aging and age-related diseases.
(5) Elucidation of the role of Sestrins as regulators of glucose and lipid metabolism and protectors from insulin resistance and diabetes.
