Patrick C. Phillips
Evolutionary geneticist who uses the nematode C. elegans to study aging, including how insulin/IGF-1 signalling, a pathway tightly connected to mTOR, shapes lifespan.
Professor, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon · Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program participant
Phillips Lab, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon, USA) ↗
Portrait: University of Oregon
Patrick Phillips is a professor at the University of Oregon. His group uses the roundworm C. elegans to ask how DNA turns into traits such as body size, reproduction and lifespan, and how evolution shapes these genetic systems. He takes part in the Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program, which tests compounds for effects on aging.
The 2026 study in the Atlas, led by Rose Al-Saadi, looked at the insulin/IGF-1 pathway in male worms. The researchers used a tool that removes the DAF-2 receptor on demand, called auxin-inducible degradation, so the pathway could be switched off in the whole animal.
Males lived much longer, with median lifespan up by more than 440 percent, and kept better reproductive health late in life. Insulin/IGF-1 signalling and mTOR are linked growth-and-nutrient pathways, which is why the result is relevant here.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | A | Disruption of the insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans dramatically increases male longevity and enhances reproductive health late in life ALS2026 Showed that removing the DAF-2/IGF-1 receptor throughout the body in C. elegans males raises median lifespan by more than 440 percent and improves late-life reproduction; Phillips was senior author. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 1
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Patrick C. Phillips.
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- Rose S. Al-Saadi Doctoral student in Patrick Phillips' lab at the University of Oregon who studies how ageing differs between the sexes, using male C. elegans
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