Welcome to the Blau Lab
Our focus is on the basic molecular mechanisms of stem cells and muscle and their application to aging, regenerative medicine, and disease. The Blau lab brings together biologists, bioinformatics experts, and bioengineers who are interested in everything from the basic mechanisms of disease, to technology development, to clinical translation. We capitalize on an interdisciplinary approach to science because 'Where we look and how we look determines what we see’. The laboratory collaborates extensively with other researchers. Our overall objective is to understand and apply biology to improve quality of life.
Join the Blau Team
We're currently recruiting postdoctoral fellows to join our lab. The project concerns our recent discovery that 15-PGDH, the Prostaglandin E2 degrading enzyme, is a previously unrecognized hallmark of aging. When inhibited, muscle mass and strength are dramatically increased in aged mice. Moreover, overexpression of the enzyme in muscles of young mice leads to premature aging and weakness. Studies in the lab are directed at understanding its mechanism of action at the molecular and cellular level, it’s partners in crime, how it creates an epigenetic memory and if its inhibition causes tissue rejuvenation and turns back the biological clock. Interested candidates should email a current CV to Helen Blau.
- Mohsen Afshar joins Blau Lab
- Palla et al. "Inhibition of prostaglandin-degrading enzyme 15-PGDH rejuvenates aged muscle mass and strength" published in Science
- Helen Blau and Sarah Heilshorn awarded 2020 Keck Medical Research Award
- Will Wang awarded NIH K99/R00 award
- Blau lab proposal selected by SMA Foundation in collaboration with Stanford IMA
- Meenakshi Ravichandran awarded Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship from SNSF