Dr Mirre Simons
School of Biosciences
Sir Henry Dale Fellow
+44 114 222 0111
Full contact details
School of Biosciences
B89
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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- Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, Wellcome & Royal Society (2019-2025)
- Vice-Chancellor's Fellowship, Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield (2015-2019)
- Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship (2015-2019)
- Postdoctoral researcher (NERC-funded), Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (2013-2015)
- PhD, University of Groningen, The Netherlands (cum laude, 2013)
- MSc Research, University of Groningen, The Netherlands (cum laude, 2008)
- Research interests
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Taking an evolutionary perspective I work on the adaptive value of differences in ageing between and within species to reveal fundamental aspects of the aging process. In this context I have worked on trade-offs concerning reproductive effort and sexual signalling. To increase reproductive effort, I used various experimental manipulations in three-spined stickleback.
I also studied senescence and sexual signaling of bill coloration in zebra finches. Both during my PhD at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). Moreover I have conducted several meta-analyses concerning the biology of ageing and sexual signaling (see my publications list). For my postdoctoral work at the University of Sheffield (UK), Molecular Ecology, I have studied senescence and telomere biology in an insular island population of wild house sparrows.
The current focus of my lab group is on the mechanisms of ageing and modulation by diet. We study demographic ageing, molecular mechanisms of dietary restriction and age-related disease (dementia and cancer). To do this we use the fruit fly, a functional genetics powerhouse. We use a combination of transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics to identify candidate mechanisms. Please refer to our lab web pages for more information and/or contact me. There are always opportunities to collaborate or come work in my lab.
I focus on the following topics:
- Demography of mortality
- Dietary restriction
- Costs of reproduction and the evolution of ageing
- Biology of cancer and cellular senescence
- Telomere length and dynamics
- Publications
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Journal articles
- The importance of reaction norms in dietary restriction and ageing research. Ageing Research Reviews, 87, 101926-101926.
- Rapamycin not dietary restriction improves resilience against pathogens: a meta-analysis. GeroScience, 45(2), 1263-1270.
- Amino acid availability is not essential for lifespan extension by dietary restriction in the fly.. Journals of Gerontology, Series A, 77(11), 2181-2185.
- The relationship between longevity and diet is genotype dependent and sensitive to desiccation in Drosophila melanogaster. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 223(23).
- The hidden costs of dietary restriction: Implications for its evolutionary and mechanistic origins. Science Advances, 6(8). View this article in WRRO
- Programmed DNA elimination of germline development genes in songbirds. Nature Communications, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
- The rate of telomere loss is related to maximum lifespan in birds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1741). View this article in WRRO
- Life-span Extension With Reduced Somatotrophic Signaling: Moderation of Aging Effect by Signal Type, Sex, and Experimental Cohort. Journal of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 72(12), 1620-1626. View this article in WRRO
- Comparative idiosyncrasies in life extension by reduced mTOR signalling and its distinctiveness from dietary restriction. Aging Cell, 15(4), 737-743. View this article in WRRO
- Stabilising survival selection on pre-senescent expression of a sexual ornament followed by a terminal decline. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 29(7), 1368-1378. View this article in WRRO
- Questioning causal involvement of telomeres in aging. Ageing Research Reviews, 24(B), 191-196. View this article in WRRO
- Dietary restriction of rodents decreases aging rate without affecting initial mortality rate - a meta-analysis. Aging Cell, 12(3), 410-414.
- Telomere length behaves as biomarker of somatic redundancy rather than biological age. Aging Cell, 12(2), 330-332.
- What Does Carotenoid-Dependent Coloration Tell? Plasma Carotenoid Level Signals Immunocompetence and Oxidative Stress State in Birds–A Meta-Analysis. PLoS ONE, 7(8), e43088-e43088. View this article in WRRO
Preprints
- Stochasticity explains non-genetic inheritance of lifespan and apparent trade-offs between reproduction and ageing, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- The optimal clutch size revisited: separating individual quality from the costs of reproduction, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- The importance of reaction norms in dietary restriction and ageing research. Ageing Research Reviews, 87, 101926-101926.
- Research group
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PhD students
- Sarah Gautrey
- Alex Charles
- Katie Roome
Technicians
- Laura Hartshorne l.hartshorne@sheffield.ac.uk
- Gracie Adams g.adams@sheffield.ac.uk
- Teaching activities
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I currently teach APS359 Topics in Modern Zoology, in addition to supervising L3, L4, L4 Tutor (Org Env), MSc and MRes students.