Anthony J. Covarrubias, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics
Research Areas
Anthony J. Covarrubias, Ph.D., studies the cross-talk between inflammation and metabolism in disease states driven by chronic inflammation. This work can yield new insights into the role that age-related decline in the immune system plays in metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, aging and cancer.
Covarrubias is a macrophage biologist with expertise in immuno-metabolism, and how inflammation and metabolism are integrated to regulate metabolic health and disease states including aging. His research identified the nutrient-sensing Akt-mTORC1 pathway as a critical regulator of macrophage polarization and showed that activation of the Akt target ACLY catalyzes the increase in macrophage cytosolic/nuclear pools of acetyl-CoA. These findings suggest how nutrient and metabolic status can fine-tune macrophage function via nutrient-sensing pathways to impact gene expression and inflammatory functions during obesity and lean conditions.
Covarrubias’ recent work is focused on how diet and aging-related inflammation impacts the aging process. In a recent manuscript, he showed that the decline of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD+, during aging is driven by the activation of tissue resident macrophages via senescent cells. As senescent cells progressively accumulate in aging tissues, these results highlight a new causal link between visceral tissue senescence, NAD+ and immuno-metabolic dysregulation during aging.
“Science is like art. Your tools in your lab are like your paint, your brush, your crayons, or your chalk. You have these questions you're trying to ask, but a limited amount of tools to answer them. So you have to be very creative.”
- Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics
Research Projects
- Studying cross-talk between immune cells and senescent cells — cells which have stopped dividing and are no longer functional — in metabolic disease, aging and cancer
- Investigating NAD+ metabolism as a therapeutic target in metabolic disease, aging and cancer
- Exploring the role of nutrient/metabolite levels and nutrient sensing pathways in the regulation of gene expression and immune cell function
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Post-doctoral fellowship
- Immunology, Metabolism and Aging, Gladstone Institute, UC San Francisco, 2021
Degree
- Ph.D., Immunology and Metabolism, Harvard University, 2016
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