THE TEAM

---

Lenny grew up in the Boston area and graduated from Boston College High School. He pursued his undergraduate degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he received his Bachelors of Science. He later attended Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, where he completed his Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Jon Beckwith, Ph.D. and was appointed as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow in 1978. Lenny then completed his postdoctoral work at Harvard University under Dr. Mark Ptashne, Ph.D., before operating his own lab at MIT, researching Mechanisms of Aging in the model organism C. elegans since 1982.

Fun fact: Has seen The Beatles perform live.

---

Mohan earned his Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He then went on to receive his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA with Dr. Susan Lovett, Ph.D. studying DNA repair and recombination. He joined the Guarente lab in 2001, as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow, where he focused on the genetics of aging regulation using a chemical biology and genetics approach with the model organism C. elegans. Afterwards he started his own group at a Boston area biopharma company beginning therapeutic discovery work using a C. elegans model of dysferlinopathy (or LGMDR2). In 2008 he returned to MIT as a Research Scientist where he continued to work on developing a therapeutic discovery pipeline for dysferlinopathy. His work has centered on studying missense mutations found in dysferlinopathy patients that result in near total loss of dysferlin (DYSF) protein expression in patients, and identifying and developing therapeutics capable of restoring DYSF function in patients with such mutations. This pipeline has yielded a number of hit compounds, one of which is the chemical chaperone, 4-phenylbutyric acid, which has shown positive results in preclinical mouse studies done in our lab. This has led to the exploration of chemical chaperones that could correct this dysferlinopathy.

Publications

Dysferlinopathy:

1. Tominaga K., Tominaga N., Williams E.O., Rufibach L., Schöwel V., Spuler S., Viswanathan M, and L.P. Guarente. 4-Phenylbutyrate restores localization and membrane repair to human dysferlin mutations. iScience. 2021 Dec 20;25(1):103667. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103667. PMID: 35028538.

2. Williams, E.O., Spracklin, G, Guarente, L.P., Viswanathan, M. “A C. elegans therapeutic discovery platform for dysferlin-based muscular dystrophies” (submitted). 
3. Williams, E.O., McGhee, M., Guarente,L.P., Viswanathan, M. “4-Phenylbutyrate restores muscle loss in a mouse model of dysferlinopathy” (manuscript in preparation)

C. elegans Sirtuins:

1. Mouchiroud L, Houtkooper RH, Moullan N, Katsyuba E, Ryu D, Cantó C, Mottis A, Jo YS, Viswanathan M, Schoonjans K, Guarente L, Auwerx J. The NAD(+)/Sirtuin Pathway Modulates Longevity through Activation of Mitochondrial UPR and FOXO Signaling. Cell. 2013 Jul 18;154(2):430-41. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.06.016. PMID: 23870130.

2. Viswanathan M, Tissenbaum HA. C. elegans Sirtuins. Methods Mol Biol. 2013;1077:39-56. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-637-5_3. PMID: 24014398.

3. Sleigh JN, Buckingham SD, Esmaeili B, Viswanathan M, Cuppen E, Westlund BM, Sattelle DB. A novel Caenorhabditis elegans allele, smn-1(cb131), mimicking a mild form of spinal muscular atrophy, provides a convenient drug screening platform highlighting new and pre-approved compounds. Hum Mol Genet. 2011 Jan 15;20(2):245-60. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddq459. Epub 2010 Oct 20. PMID: 20962036.

4. Viswanathan M, Guarente L. Regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan by sir-2.1 transgenes. Nature. 2011 Sep 21;477(7365):E1-2. doi: 10.1038/nature10440. PMID: 21938026.

5. Berdichevsky A, Viswanathan M, Horvitz HR, Guarente L. C. elegans SIR-2.1 interacts with 14-3-3 proteins to activate DAF-16 and extend life span. Cell. 2006 Jun 16;125(6):1165-77. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2006.04.036. PMID: 16777605.
6. Viswanathan M, Kim SK, Berdichevsky A, Guarente L. A role for sir-2.1 regulation of ER stress response genes in determining C. elegans life span. Dev Cell. 2005 Nov;9(5):605-15. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2005.09.017. PMID: 16256736.

Exonucleases in DNA repair and recombination:

1. Viswanathan M, Burdett V, Baitinger C, Modrich P, Lovett ST. Redundant exonuclease involvement in Escherichia coli methyl-directed mismatch repair. J Biol Chem. 2001 Aug 17;276(33):31053-8. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M105481200. Epub 2001 Jun 19. PMID: 11418610.

2. Burdett V, Baitinger C, Viswanathan M, Lovett ST, Modrich P. In vivo requirement for RecJ, ExoVII, ExoI, and ExoX in methyl-directed mismatch repair. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jun 5;98(12):6765-70. doi: 10.1073/pnas.121183298. Epub 2001 May 29. PMID: 11381137.

3. Viswanathan M, Lacirignola JJ, Hurley RL, Lovett ST. A novel mutational hotspot in a natural quasipalindrome in Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 2000 Sep 22;302(3):553-64. doi: 10.1006/jmbi.2000.4088. PMID: 10986118.

4. Viswanathan M, Lovett ST. Exonuclease X of Escherichia coli. A novel 3′-5′ DNase and Dnaq superfamily member involved in DNA repair. J Biol Chem. 1999 Oct 15;274(42):30094-100. doi: 10.1074/jbc.274.42.30094. PMID: 10514496.

5. Viswanathan M, Lanjuin A, Lovett ST. Identification of RNase T as a high-copy suppressor of the UV sensitivity associated with single-strand DNA exonuclease deficiency in Escherichia coli. Genetics. 1999 Mar;151(3):929-34. doi: 10.1093/genetics/151.3.929. PMID: 10049912.

6. Viswanathan M, Dower KW, Lovett ST. Identification of a potent DNase activity associated with RNase T of Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem. 1998 Dec 25;273(52):35126-31. doi: 10.1074/jbc.273.52.35126. PMID: 9857048.
7. Viswanathan M, Lovett ST. Single-strand DNA-specific exonucleases in Escherichia coli. Roles in repair and mutation avoidance. Genetics. 1998 May;149(1):7-16. doi: 10.1093/genetics/149.1.7. PMID: 9584082; PMCID: PMC1460129.

Fun Fact: Great at baking.

---

Eric grew up Salem, NH, before attending Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He received his undergraduate degree (B.S.) in Genetics as well as Developmental Biology, before completing his Ph.D. in Neurobiology & Behavior at the same institution. He then came to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his Postdoctoral Research on mechanisms of aging from 2010-2016 in the Guarente Lab. Since then, Eric has been a full-time Associate Professor at Fitchburg State University, as well as a visiting scientist here at MIT.

Fun fact: Hobbies include woodworking and beekeeping.

---

---

Maddie grew up in central Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. She Graduated from University of Delaware located in Newark, DE, with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. She is currently applying to graduate programs starting Fall 2025.

Fun Fact: Loves going to the movies, has a cat named Petra with asthma.

---

Heidi grew up in Andover, MA and San Diego, CA. She graduated from Arcadia University in Glenside, PA, where she completed her degree as a 4.0 student with a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences in Scientific Illustration. She is currently applying to graduate programs in her field starting Fall 2025.

Fun Fact: Loves to bake, studied Japanese for six years, and studied Corvids and flora on the West Coast of Ireland.