Yelena V. Budovskaya, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS), Department of Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety, Faculty of Sciences, University of Amsterdam. Aging limits the normal lifespan of all animals, and is a major risk factor for most diseases. Several model organisms are currently being used to study the aging process including yeast, fruit flies, nematodes, mice, and humans. Of these, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the most attractive and useful organisms for studying aging and lifespan. C. elegans normally has a relatively short life span of two weeks, enabling one to assess the effects of different mutations or treatments on lifespan. Although many genes and genetic pathways have been found that specify lifespan, relatively little is known about the differences between young and old worms at either the cellular or molecular levels. Lena’s long-term goal is to explore in detail the molecular basis for aging in the nematode C. elegans, by first characterizing the differences between young and old animals and then determining how these changes cause young lively animals to become old and frail. Lena’s papers include An evolutionary proteomics approach identifies substrates of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase, The Ras/cAMP-dependent Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway Regulates an Early Step of the Autophagy Process in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, An elt-3/elt-5/elt-6 GATA Transcription Circuit Guides Aging in C. elegans, The rye Mutants Identify a Role for Ssn/Srb Proteins of the RNA Polymerase II Holoenzyme During Stationary Phase Entry in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and The C-terminal Domain of the Largest Subunit of RNA Polymerase II Is Required for Stationary Phase Entry and Functionally Interacts with the Ras/PKA Signaling Pathway. Lena earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Geneticas at Ohio State University in 2005.