Darren Baker, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Biology and Chemistry, his master’s degree from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Tumor Biology and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. His laboratory focuses on the involvement of senescent cells to aging and age-related diseases, with particular focus on neurodegenerative disease. Using novel genetically engineered mouse models that allow for the elimination of senescent cells, he was one of the first to demonstrate that both premature and normal aging are driven by increased incidences of senescence. Furthermore, utilization of this model has been instrumental in demonstrating that tau-dependent neurodegenerative pathology in mice can be attenuated through removal of these damaging cells. Studies from his lab have been identified as one of the top 10 breakthroughs of the year by Science in both 2011 and 2016. In 2019, he was recognized with the Rising Star Award from the Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences from the University of Pennsylvania for his work in neurodegenerative disease. He is funded by the NIH (NCI and NIA), Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, Ellison Medical Foundation, Mayo Clinic Children’s Research Center, and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of Mayo Clinic. Additionally, he is a co-director of the Glenn Laboratories of Mayo Clinic for Senescence Research sponsored by the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research.