Jane Hubbard Lab | NYU Langone Health

Skip to Main Content

Jane Hubbard Lab

We study how diet and aging affect stem cells.

In the E. Jane Albert Hubbard Lab at NYU Langone, we study how diet and aging affect stem cells in vivo using germline stem cells of the nematode worm C. elegans as a model. The germline stem cell pool is remarkably plastic and is responsive to multiple genetic and environmental cues.

Graphic Demonstrating Germline Stem Cell Lifespan
The germline stem cell pool is responsive to multiple genetic and environmental cues.

Our work takes advantage of this system: we can easily manipulate the diet and genetics of the worm, and the worm’s lifespan is short. In the lab, the worms feed on and live in bacteria. We found that the quality and quantity of the bacterial dietary and sensory environment influences the stem cell pool via conserved signaling pathways such as insulin-IGF, TOR, and TGFß. We recently discovered a mechanism whereby bacterial abundance can directly modulate Notch pathway activity, a canonical developmental decision pathway. Our aging studies also implicate insulin-IGF signaling in regulation of the aging stem cell pool, but in a manner that is anatomically distinct from the effect of this pathway on organismal lifespan.

Diversity Statement

The Hubbard Lab supports a diverse and inclusive environment. We recognize that a diverse team promotes the kinds of creative thinking and innovation that are key to impactful research. We welcome motivated scientists regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and identity, disability, age, religion, country-of-origin, or socioeconomic background. We wish to help rectify past and current exclusion and inequities in science by providing mentoring and training in an environment conducive to discovery.

Meet the Hubbard Lab

Katherine Norton, a Society for Developmental Biology Choose Development! Fellow who did her summer research our lab, made a video that explains our research with C. elegans.

Contact Us

E. Jane Albert Hubbard, PhD
Principal Investigator
Professor, Departments of Cell Biology and Pathology
540-562 First Avenue
Fourth Floor
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-263-7154
Email: jane.hubbard@nyulangone.org