WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE RECEIVING THIS AWARD?
I had received an ERC Starter Grant (2012-2017) and had established a longitudinal research programme to establish the molecular basis of extended health span in wild bats starting in 2013. This is a 30 year-long endeavour that needs constant funding of staff, consumables and equipment. There was no funding in Ireland that I was able to apply for to maintain this project and research, given the change in National Funding during austerity. I had unsuccessfully applied for an ERC Consolidator to advance this research but failed after interview, with the comments that I needed a Nature/Science paper from my ERC grant to be considered competitive. Therefore I needed “bridging” funding to enable me maintain my new research field, keep the expertise I had developed in the lab, publish in high impact journals, and apply for new funding opportunities to keep the research going.
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT IN LAY TERMS
Ageing is the biggest threat to human-health globally, as people everywhere are living longer. As the cost of caring for the elderly threatens to overwhelm healthcare infrastructures and disrupt society, we must find solutions to our ageing problem. Bats have naturally evolved the longest healthspan in mammals, living >8 times longer than expected, showing little signs of ageing. In this project we aimed to uncover the molecular mechanisms that bats use to regulate their longer healthspan, by studying the ageing process in wild bat species and within their genomes, to identify bats ‘anti-ageing’ pathways . This will ultimately provide insight into novel molecular pathway and processes that could be further explored to extend human healthspan, providing novel solutions to our ageing problem.
HOW HAS ISSF HELPED YOUR CAREER?
Without this grant I could not have continued this research into developing bats as a novel study system to uncover the molecular basis of healthy ageing and novel disease tolerance. This has led to a huge global awareness of the unique biology of bats, has driven new COVID-19 related research, exploring how bats can tolerate SARSlike-CoVs. It enabled my successful application for Full Professor, driven high impact papers in Nature, Science, PNAS and enabled new international collaborations and grant applications.
TANGIBLE OUTPUTS AS A RESULT OF RECEIVING THE AWARD
Some key papers: 31 published since getting the award:
- D. Jebb, Z. Huang, M. Pippel, G. M. Hughes, K. Lavrichenko, P. Devanna, S. Winkler, L. S. Jermiin, E. C. Skirmuntt, A. Katzourakis, L. Burkitt-Gray, D. A. Ray, K. A. M. Sullivan, J. G. Roscito, B. M. Kirilenko, L. M. Dávalos, A. P. Corthals, M. L. Power, G. Jones, R. D. Ransome, D. Dechmann, A. G. Locatelli, S. J. Puechmaille, O. Fedrigo, E. D. Jarvis, M. Hiller, S. C. Vernes, E. W. Myers & E. C. Teeling. (2020). Six new reference-quality bat genomes illuminate the molecular basis and evolution of bat adaptations. Nature 583, 578–584
- Z. Huang, C. V. Whelan, D. Dechmann & E. C. Teeling. (2020). Genetic variation between long-lived versus short-lived bats illuminates the molecular signatures of longevity. Aging 12(16): 15962–15977
- N. M. Foley, E. J. Petit, J. A. Finarelli, G. M. Hughes, F. Touzalin, S. J. Puechmaille & E. C. Teeling. (2020). Elucidating the drivers of longitudinal telomere dynamics in a long-lived bat species, Myotis myotis. Molecular Ecology 29 (16) 2963-2977
- Z. Huang, C. V. Whelan, N. M. Foley, D. Jebb, F. Touzalin, E. J. Petit, S. J. Puechmaille & E. C. Teeling. (2019). Longitudinal comparative transcriptomics reveals unique mechanisms underlying extended healthspan in mammals. Nature Ecology and Evolution 3, 1110-1120
- L. R. Yohe, P. Devanna, K. T. J. Davies, J. H. T. Potter, S. J. Rossiter, E. C. Teeling, S. Vernes, L. M. Dávalos. (2019). Tissue collection of bats for -omics analyses and primary cell culture. Journal of Visualized Experiments 152
Funding
- 2020-2025: SFI Future Frontiers, €1.2m. LongHealth: The Molecular Basis and Regulation of Longer Healthspan in Mammals
- 2018-2020: IRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, €180k. MYOPOPS: An integrative study of the population dynamics of wild European bats, Myotis myotis. (Dr. Fredéric Touzalin)
- 2018-2022: IRC-Laureate Award, €600k. AGE IMMUNE: The evolution and molecular basis of exceptional ageing and immunity in mammals
Relevant Presentations
- RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) – Growing old yet staying young: do bats hold the secret of extended longevity? Japan, December 2020. (online)
- University of Lausanne – The molecular basis of bats’ extraordinary longevity. Switzerland, December 2020. (online)
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing (MPI-AGE) – Growing old yet staying young: do bats hold the secret of extended longevity? Cologne, November 2020. (online)
- W.I.T.H Association – Travels with a Batwoman – from Davos to Covid to Ageing- and back again, June 2020. (online)
- University of Uppsala – Bats: the evolution of extended health span and tolerance of deadly viruses. Sweden, May 2020. (online)
- Broad Institute – Immune response, longevity, and genomics in bats, a lineage that tolerates viral infection. Boston, USA, April 2020. (online)
- Future BioTech, Winter Genomics Meeting, Novosibirsk – How genomics can reveal the molecular basis of adaptations in extraordinary mammals. Siberia, Feb. 2020
- World Economic Forum – Bats and the secret of everlasting youth. Davos, Jan. 2020
- Berlin Natural History Museum – Bats as models of extended longevity, Berlin Science Week, Berlin , Nov. 2019
- Royal Irish Academy Discourse – Do bats and rats hold the secret of everlasting youth? Dublin, Oct. 2019
- European Parliament and European Commission – Bats as models of healthy ageing – EU research and innovation in our daily lives, Brussels, Nov. 2018
- Earth BioGenome Project Plenary, Wellcome Trust, London, Oct. 2018
- Schrödinger at 75, Dublin, Ireland, Future of Zoology, Sept. 2018
- Banbury Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Labs, New York, USA, Bats as models for healthy aging, March 2018. (Invited to develop and organize the brainstorm meeting)
WHAT DID THE AWARD MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
It gave me hope. It enabled me to continue the research I have developed and the project is now heading into its 10th year. It gave me the “space” needed to actually realise the potential of the ERC funded research. It allowed me to continue this research in Ireland. But of most importance, this funding allowed me and my group generate key bat genomes and analyses, published on the cover of Nature, July 2020, which were directly relevant the “fight” against COVID-19, by providing novel insight into how bats can live with and tolerate these pathogens.