Senior Principal Investigators: Xavier Santamaria & Felipe Vilella

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The CAROLINA Project aims to understand ovarian aging mechanisms and develop novel strategies to delay or prevent reproductive aging. This project may lead to new therapies for infertility caused by ovarian aging and provide insights into the cellular and molecular changes associated with reproductive aging.

We aim to develop and optimize partial reprogramming in the ovary and assess the effects on ovarian function. Cellular reprogramming enables the conversion of terminally differentiated somatic cells into pluripotent cells using the expression of defined reprogramming factors. During induced cell fate alteration, cellular reprogramming reverses cellular phenotypes linked to aging.

The CAROLINA Project has specific objectives to achieve this goal, including:

    • Developing and optimizing partial reprogramming in the ovary and analyzing changes in ovarian function
    • Generating a molecular roadmap of ovarian cell types following partial reprogramming to understand alterations at the molecular level
    • Developing a perfusion-based approach to deliver reprogramming factors and rejuvenate human ovaries, which will enhance efficiency and reduce off-target effects.

To learn more, visit https://carlossimonfoundation.com/research/carolina-project/

Endometrial Regenerative Therapies