2025 Early-career Researchers talks: Dan Hayman – The splice of life: Manipulating the spliceosome to extend healthy lifespan
19/11/2025
Dan Hayman studied Genetics at the University of Sheffield for his undergraduate degree, before moving to Newcastle to undertake an MRes and subsequently a PhD in musculoskeletal ageing, focusing on the genetics of bone cells and how this changes as we age. After completion of his PhD, Dan moved to the lab of Dr Evans at the University of Sheffield as a Research Assistant and investigated the genetics of immune ageing using fruit flies as a model organism, funded by the Vivensa Foundation. He then moved to the lab of Dr Simons, also at Sheffield, and investigated nutrition in ageing, specifically molecules we wouldn’t usually think of as nutrients, like RNA, before successfully applying for the first round of the Vivensa Foundation ECR Fellowships scheme and investigating the role of splicing in healthy ageing.
Dan Hayman, University of Sheffield
This talk explores how age-related dysregulation of alternative splicing contributes to declining cellular and organismal health. It focuses on the spliceosome, a complex molecular machine that controls which gene components are included in mature mRNA, and how its precise regulation becomes disrupted with age, leading to aberrant protein production. Using fruit fly models, the research shows that lifespan-extending interventions such as mTOR suppression and dietary restriction are associated with increased expression of spliceosome components. Functional studies reveal that disrupting specific spliceosome components has markedly different effects on survival, with some knockdowns inducing rapid mortality while others extend lifespan. Notably, reducing expression of the spliceosome component Rbp1 extends lifespan regardless of when intervention occurs. The talk highlights the importance of identifying which spliceosome activities are most critical for healthy ageing and suggests that targeting specific splicing regulators may offer new strategies to promote longevity.
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Meet the speakers
Dan Hayman
Dan Hayman studied Genetics at the University of Sheffield for his undergraduate degree, before moving to Newcastle to undertake an MRes and subsequently a PhD in musculoskeletal ageing, focusing on the genetics of bone cells and how this changes as we age. After completion of his PhD, Dan moved to the lab of Dr Evans at the University of Sheffield as a Research Assistant and investigated the genetics of immune ageing using fruit flies as a model organism, funded by the Vivensa Foundation. He then moved to the lab of Dr Simons, also at Sheffield, and investigated nutrition in ageing, specifically molecules we wouldn't usually think of as nutrients, like RNA, before successfully applying for the first round of the Vivensa Foundation ECR Fellowships scheme and investigating the role of splicing in healthy ageing.