News and Events

Lowey Announces $71,137 for New York Medical College

White Plains, NY – Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (Westchester/Rockland), the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, today announced a $71,137 National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant to New York Medical College to study DNA repair in ovarian aging.

“Now more than ever is the time to double down on our commitment to researching and solving women’s health challenges,” said Lowey. “I’m pleased that New York Medical College continues to make women’s health a priority, helping women in the Lower Hudson Valley live healthier, happier lives. Funding for NIH has nearly tripled since I joined the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds medical research, and I will continue fighting to ensure we study and cure medicine’s most complex and difficult problems.”

The NIA grant will allow New York Medical College researchers to investigate how DNA damage is the root cause of two types of ovarian aging: reproductive aging and aging caused by cancer treatments. Once the key genes are identified, this critical research will advance efforts to protect and enhance women's reproductive health using innovative pharmacological tools to repair the damaged DNA.

“This grant from the National Institute of Aging will enable us to better understand how reproductive aging occurs, specifically ovarian aging as a result of DNA damage,” said Gabriela Murphy-Goldberg, Ph.D. candidate in the School of Basic Medical Sciences at New York Medical College and the Principal Investigator for the project, under the mentorship of Kutluk Oktay, M.D., Ph.D., Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pathology.   

“Reproductive aging is a significant public health issue affecting a major segment of the female population and our lab is leading the research in this area," said Dr. Oktay. "This study will help us understand the factors which control ovarian aging and DNA repair, findings which may later be used to develop new therapies for counteracting reproductive aging."  

New York Medical College is a health sciences college whose purpose is to educate physicians, scientists, public health specialists, and other healthcare professionals, and to conduct biomedical and population-based research. Through its faculty and affiliated clinical partners, the College works to provide service to its community in an atmosphere of excellence, scholarship and professionalism.

Since 1974, the NIA has been at the forefront of the nation's research activities dedicated to understanding the nature of aging, supporting the health and well-being of older adults, and extending healthy, active years of life for more people.  NIA’s research program covers a broad range of areas, from the study of basic cellular changes that occur with age to the examination of the biomedical, social, and behavioral aspects of age-related conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease.