Sean Curran

Sean P. Curran, PhD is a professor and James Birren Chair of Gerontology and serves as the Executive Vice Dean of USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. He received a BS degree in Biochemistry (1999) and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2004) from UCLA and completed his post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Curran’s research focuses on understanding the connection between genes and diet in maintaining health across the lifespan. His group defined the concept of diet-gene pairs, or genetic variants that are phenotypic on some diets but not others. His work on the SKN-1/NRF2 cytoprotective transcription factor has emphasized the importance of turning off stress responses, which has led to the development of synthetic off switches to control this conserved homeostat. Dr. Curran established the Los Angeles Aging Research Alliance (LAARA) and co-founded the Geroscience Los Angeles Meeting (GLAM). He is director of the Biology of Aging and Geroscience PhD programs and co-directed the GEMSTEM program that provides research training and professionalization to historically underrepresented undergraduates. Dr. Curran received the Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research (AFAR), the Ewald W. Busse Research Award from the Duke University Center for Aging, the Nathan Shock Award from the Gerontological Society of America and his excellence in mentoring has been recognized by the Hiram J. Friedsam Mentorship Award (AGHE), USC Provost’s mentoring award and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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