Welcome to the Animal Models for the Social Dimensions of Health and Aging Research Network
The Research Network supports research that integrates animal models into studies of social aging. We facilitate the exchange of ideas, concepts, and data between researchers working on animal models and on humans, provide mentorship and training for new investigators, and support new projects focused on using animal models to improve human health and well-being during aging.
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Catalysis Meeting to Be Held at ASU
The 2026 Research Network Catalysis Meeting will be held from October 25-27 at Arizona State University. The agenda includes talks from recent Pilot & Feasibility and McEwen Fellowship awardees, plenary talks from Dr. Elizabeth Archie (Notre Dame) and Greg Miller (Northwestern), and sessions aimed at shaping future directions for Network collaborations and member funding. Check back here and on our socials (button links above) for updates after the meeting!
2026-2027 Pilot and McEwen Awardees Announced
This year, we are pleased to award seven Pilot awards, four McEwen fellowships, and one Travel fellowship. In addition to three regular Pilot & Feasibility awards, we funded four Special Pilot awards for proposals that partnered with our sister networks to generate translational data. We look forward to seeing the results of these exciting projects over the coming months.
Network Members Publish in PNAS
Congratulations to 2024 McEwen fellow Ezra Winter-Nelson and 2022 Pilot Awardee Dr. Gagan Wig, both from the University of Texas at Dallas, on their recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper "Correspondence of large-scale functional brain network decline across aging mice and humans" details densely sampled resting-state functional MRI data acquired cross-sectionally and longitudinally in awake mice to establish a model of large-scale functional brain network aging in mice and provide a translational bridge across species.
Second Network-the-networks Meeting in 2026 Is a Success!
The Research Network hosted the second Network-the-networks meeting in 2026, this one at the University of Minnesota and hosted by contact PI Alessandro Bartolomucci and co-I Kathleen Mullan Harris. Also in attendance were Advisory Board members Darren Baker and Carol Shively, who helped lead several networking sessions focused on translating animal models research to aspects of social aging in humans.
PI Noah Snyder-Mackler Hosts the First of Two Network-the-network Meetings
The Animal Models for the Social Dimensions of Health and Aging Research Network organized the first of two Network-the-networks meeting in 2026. This first meeting focused on the aim of "diversify[ing] the animal taxa used in the study of Social Determinants of Aging" at Arizona State University on January 15-16, 2026, and was hosted by Network PI Noah Snyder-Mackler and co-hosted by Network PI Jenny Tung and Advisory Board member Susan Alberts.
Announcing the 2025-2026 Pilot Award and McEwen Fellowship Winners
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025-2026 Pilot & Feasibility awards, Bruce McEwen Fellowship, and Research Network travel fellowship! Congratulations to Pilot awardees Camille Testard (Harvard) and Millie Rincón-Cortés (UT Dallas), McEwen Fellows Sabrina Mederos (UC Davis) and Frank Raven (Michigan), and travel fellow Stephanie Fox (UC Santa Barbara! Learn more about their projects by clicking the link above.
Network Contact PI Alessandro Bartolomucci Named Editor-in-Chief
We are excited to announce that Alessandro Bartolomucci has been named Editor-in-Chief for the journal Neuroscience and BioBehavioral Reviews. Neuroscience and BioBehavioral Reviews is a peer-reviewed journal publishing reviews that integrate brain function and behavior across a range of areas including physiology, psychology, health and disease across the entire lifecourse of model organisms, and humans.
Dr. Brian Sweis Publishes Twice in Science Advances in July 2025
Dr. Brian Sweis, assistant professor at Mount Sinai, published two papers in Science Advances based on his research on the neuroeconomics of decision-making. Dr. Sweis received a Stage 2 Pilot & Feasibility award from the Research Network in 2023. Click the link above for the Bluesky announcement that links the articles!
Bruce McEwen Fellow Dr. Sarah Wolf Publishes in JEZ-A
Dr. Sarah Wolf, postdoctoral research associate at The University of Edinburgh and recipient of the Bruce McEwen fellowship in 2021, recently published "Telomere-Related Gene Networks in the Ovary Shift Across Environmental Factors" in the Journal of Experimental Zoology - Part A. Click the link above to read the full text!
NIA Highlight Network Fellow Albery's Publication
The National Institute of Aging have highlighted McEwen Fellow Greg Albery's recent publication in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Dr. Albery and colleagues showed that as they age red deer become less social and move to increasingly isolated areas.
Evolution & Social Determinants of Health Symposium at 2022 ISEMPH
At the 2022 ISEMPH meeting, the Animal Models for the Social Dimensions of Health and Aging Research Network organized a session focused on the social determinants of health. Speakers included Adrian Jäggi, Rebecca Sear, Camille Testard, and Barbara Natterson-Horowitz with study systems ranging from hyenas to humans. Visit our News section for more information, including talk titles and abstracts.
McEwen Fellow Publishes Social Network & Brain Circuitry Link
Bruce McEwen Fellow Camille Testard published a research article detailing the link between social network size and the expansion of brain circuits in a free-ranging population of rhesus macaques. This supports the idea that the social determinants of health and aging work partly through social environmental influences on the brain.
The Research Network is supported by funding from the National Institute on Aging, under award number R24AG065172