Melanie McReynolds, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has been selected to receive a seed grant from the Hypothesis Fund. The Hypothesis Fund aims to advance scientific knowledge by supporting early stage, innovative research - led by scientists at broad swath of universities - that increases adaptability against systemic risks to the health of people and the planet.
The seed grant is designed to support bold new ideas in basic research at their earliest stages, typically before there is any preliminary data. McReynolds' project, "Is Aging a Failure of Metabolic Communication?", was selected "for the boldness of the science, her willingness to take a risk and go after a big idea, and the potential long-term impact of her work."
McReynolds generally studies metabolic vulnerabilities associated with aging, focusing on the molecule NAD+. This molecule is required by every living cell, and low levels have been linked to aging and a wide range of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, and cancer. By studying the molecule's metabolic origin and fate, she aims to identify how NAD+ is produced and consumed, in order to clarify - and someday counter - the causes of diseases and aging.
McReynolds received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2025. Other awards and honors include being named an inaugural fellow of the multi-institution Intersections Science Fellows Symposium in 2021, a Rising Star in Health Sciences Research in the field of metabolism by the University of Utah in 2021, a Hanna H. Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2018, and a member of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Research Enrichment Program in 2018. As a postdoctoral researcher, she was recognized as a Rising Star on the Cell Press list of Top 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America.
Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State, McReynolds was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University from 2017 to 2021, a master's degree in biological sciences from Alcorn State in 2011 while participating in the Alcorn State to Penn State Bridges to the Doctorate Program, and a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State in 2017.
