Dr. Matthew “Oki” O’Connor

Matthew “Oki” O’Connor, Ph.D. is Senior Researcher at SENS Foundation where he manages the MitoSENS project. His research is focused on “allotopic expression” of mitochondrial genes where his team is engineering mitochondrial genes to be expressed from the nucleus and targeted to the mitochondria.
 
Oki’s main goal is improved use of translational research to bring true regenerative medicine to the aged.
 
His specialties include stem cell biology, telomeres, and aging research.
 
His papers include Telosome, a Mammalian Telomere-associated Complex Formed by Multiple Telomeric Proteins, The Human Rap1 Protein Complex and Modulation of Telomere Length, A critical role for TPP1 and TIN2 interaction in high-order telomeric complex assembly, TPP1 is a homologue of ciliate TEBP-beta and interacts with POT1 to recruit telomerase, Notch signaling pathway and tissue engineering, PTOP interacts with POT1 and regulates its localization to telomeres, Aging-related alterations in the distribution of Ca(2+)-dependent PKC isoforms in rabbit hippocampus, and Trace eyeblink conditioning in the freely moving rat: optimizing the conditioning parameters.
 
Oki earned his BS in Natural Science at Shimer College in 1997. He earned his MS in Neuroscience at Northwestern University in 1999 for his work studying behavioral neuroscience in aged rodents. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Baylor College of Medicine in 2005 for his work on proteins that regulate human telomeres. Postdoctoral research includes work at UC Berkeley on muscle stem cells and aging.
 
Read SENS Annual reports increased funding and research progress for antiaging. Read his LinkedIn profile.