Victoria Acosta Rodríguez, Ph.D.

The Circadian Biology of Aging Unit (CBAU) is dedicated to uncovering the role of circadian clocks in shaping the health status during the aging process in mammals. Our main goal is to elucidate how the circadian system ages to favor disease, spanning from the molecular to systemic levels. We will combine interventions to modulate circadian function and evaluate their effect on hallmarks of aging, such as frailty, loss of resilience, inflammation, and cellular senescence.

Dr. Victoria Acosta Rodríguez received Ph.D. in Chemistry from the National University of Córdoba (Argentina). During her PhD in the laboratory of Dr Mario Guido, she investigated the circadian control of phospholipid metabolism using an in vitro model of peripheral clocks.

She joined Dr Joseph Takahashi lab at UT Southwestern Medical Center for her postdoctoral training to understand how organisms coordinate their metabolism at specific times of the day to promote wellbeing. First, she designed automated feeders to demonstrate that by restricting calories, mice not only eat less but also shorten their feeding window. She then discovered that feeding time is critical to maximize systemic benefits of caloric restriction on lifespan, and maintenance of robust circadian gene expression as mice age. Altogether, her findings challenged the prevailing view that pro-longevity benefits of caloric restriction come from lower intake or fasting alone. Instead, enhanced benefits are achieved when feeding/fasting time is aligned with the natural active phase as dictated by circadian clocks. These findings revealed circadian clocks as potential targets for delaying the onset of age-related diseases.

Dr Acosta Rodríguez joined NIA in 2024 as a Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator, where she leads the Circadian Biology of Aging Unit (CBAU). She is also an NIH Distinguished Scholar since 2024.